The Deal
by Lucinders
Summary: After her mentor dies in Mayo, Cristina Yang leaves and heads east to Massachusetts to start a new life. Now 38 years old and head of cardio at Mass Gen, she is very successful, professionally but her personal life is less than perfect. Now alone, she thinks of having a child.
1. Chapter 1 Reunion

Dr. Cristina Yang wanted a child. When she was a resident, nobody would have thought that was even possible.

It was six years ago that Owen, her ex-husband, had told her in the therapy session that she would maybe, one day, want to have a child and then, it would be too late. She had adamantly said that she would live with whatever regrets she had.

Now the head of cardio at Massachusetts General, she was 38 years old and she knew her fertile time was limited. She had left Mayo when her mentor and friend, Dr Craig Thomas, had died. When he passed, there was nothing left for her. Her relationship with the head of cardio, Dr Parker, had been purely physical. She didn't even know why she slept with him because it certainly wasn't because of his dazzling personality. The man was a total tool. Maybe, it was just to feel a connection with someone or fulfill a physical need. She had hated the way he had tried to oust her friend, Dr. Thomas, out of the hospital. In a way, Dr. Thomas had the last laugh. He died doing what he loved and did best. The day he died was the last day she spent in Minnesota.

She got drunk, got on a plane and headed east. This is how she ended up in Massachusetts General, where the great Dr. Harper Avery was the chief of surgery. He had remembered her as Jackson's friend and as the young upstart resident she was, when he had been admitted to Seattle Grace Mercy West, all those years ago. But it was her skills that made him give her the chance to finish off her fellowship at the hospital.

As she settled down in Boston, she realized that it was time to let Owen go. She initiated divorce proceedings and he did not contest them, as he signed and returned the divorce papers. He had bought out her share of the firehouse and the last communication between the two of them was the check he sent. They didn't really keep in touch after that. Owen knew she was doing extremely well and rising fast. She was publishing a lot and it gave him a special sense of pride whenever he saw one of her articles in the medical journals. Her rise at Mass General was meteoric. After finishing her fellowship, she was made head of cardio, after only four years as an attending.

Cristina found out details about Owen through Meredith. Meredith was now a senior attending in general surgery at Seattle Grace under Dr Bailey, who was now head of general surgery. Dr Webber had since retired. Meredith told her that he had buried himself in work. He only started dating two years after the divorce. The latest word was that he had got himself engaged. Cristina's heart had sunk a little when she heard it. His fiancée was Vanessa Collins and she was a real estate agent. How could he get engaged to a real estate agent, she had thought at the time, when she heard it. That was so pedestrian. In any case, she reminded herself that they were divorced. Her opinions had no bearing in his life.

She thought about him, a lot, now that she had realized that she wanted a child and she had always remembered his prophetic words from that therapy session. Her professional life was perfect. She was considered one of the finest cardio-thoracic surgeons in the world. Yet, her personal life was in shambles. There had been quite a few Dr. Parkers in her life – men she had slept with but she hadn't really cared for any of them. Her life had been feeling empty and so, thoughts of having a child, had been foremost in her mind. She wanted someone to share her life with and if it wasn't going to be with a man, she could share it with a child.

Yes, she had been so against having a baby, all those years ago, but age, time and loneliness had softened her attitude towards it. She had already contacted a sperm bank and had narrowed her options to three possible donors. She was in her office and looking over their folders and it was giving her a real headache. Choosing just one of them was going to be a task.

She knew she was going to have to make a decision, soon. She was thinking about it, when she was interrupted by her colleague and friend, Dr. Jonas Llewellyn, the head of neuro-surgery, who peeked into her office.

"Hey, Cristina, do not forget my class reunion, tonight at Harvard," he said. "I told you about it last week and you said that you would go." She groaned. She did promise him that she would go.

"Stop groaning," he said. "I went with you to that boring conference. So fair is fair. You have to come to my reunion with me. Plus it is 20 years, so everyone is going to be there. I can't show up dateless."

"Oh, gosh, I wish you were still married to Jennifer," Cristina said. "She would have gladly gone with you."

"Well, that is not happening. Jennifer and I are divorced, now," he said. "And you know how terrible our marriage was. So I will pick you up around 8 at your house."

"Yeah, sure. I just have to get a dress," she said. "Will have to do that at lunchtime."

"Get something really hot and sexy," he advised. "Even though we are just friends, I have to prove the guys in class that I still got it, even though I am three times divorced."

"Yeah, yeah," Cristina said, dismissively. "Whatever, Jonas, whatever." Jonas grinned as he left her office. She closed the folders with a sigh. She looked at the clock on her wall. It was close to 12 noon. She had about 45 minutes to get a dress for Jonas' reunion. Why did she ever agree to this? With a quick trip to the mall, she finally found a dress. It was sexy enough but not overtly so. That would have to do, she thought. She was not just going to be there for Jonas to show her off. She hoped that it would have at least good food and drinks.

* * *

Dr. Owen Hunt stepped off the airplane at Logan. He had enough time to check in at his hotel, get dressed and go to his Harvard reunion. He was only going to be there for one night. Vanessa, his fiancée, was supposed to come with him but she said she couldn't make it because a big real estate deal was coming through and she needed to be there. Besides, he was only going to be in Boston for one night, as he was headed back to Seattle, early next morning.

Whenever he came to Boston, he often thought about Cristina since he knew she was working at Massachusetts General. This time was not any different. He wondered how she was doing. Sometimes, he thought he would pass by the hospital in the hope of seeing her but then, he would change his mind because it was not going to do him any good. It still hurt when he thought about her. He had once told her that he would never love another woman and that she was the love of his life. Now, here he was, engaged to Vanessa. He wondered if she had heard about his engagement. He knew that Meredith and Cristina still kept in touch and it was more than likely that Meredith had told her about it. The last time he had seen Cristina was the day she left Seattle to go to Mayo. That was a long time ago.

He had watched her drive away in her red car from the top floor of the firehouse. It had looked like she and Meredith were having an argument. He had tried, really tried to get her to stay but her mind had been made up. When he heard that her mentor at Mayo had died, he had hoped that maybe, she would change her mind and return to Seattle. He was sorely disappointed to find out that she had gone to Massachusetts, instead.

Then, the divorce papers came. He had signed those papers with tears in his eyes. It was definitely the end for the two of them. He had taken off his wedding ring and put it away. Though they were over, his love for her never went away.

As he checked into his hotel, he didn't know why he had agreed to come to this reunion, especially now, he was going to go alone. He reminded himself that it would be great to catch up with some of his old classmates from medical school. He hadn't seen some of them in many years. Sometimes, he would meet a few of them at medical conferences. But most of them, he had not seen for years. He looked at himself in the mirror, as he dressed. He still looked good, he thought, for a 45-year-old guy.

The reunion was being held at the hotel where he was staying, so all he had to do was to take the elevator down to the ballroom. As he registered and got his name tag at door, he took a deep breath before he stepped inside. He didn't recognize a single person. Had they all changed that much in 20 years?

"Hey, Hunt!" someone yelled out to him. He looked in the direction of the voice. The person, who owned the voice, looked vaguely familiar, except he was bald and fat.

"It's me, Smithson," the guy said, with a huge grin on his face.

"Oh, my God," Owen said. Smithson had been this very thin guy with a huge shock of red hair. In his mind's eye, he could still remember how skinny Smithson was and how red and abundant his hair had been. "How are you doing?"

"Good," Smithson said. He introduced his wife and asked where was Owen's date. Owen told him that Vanessa had a huge deal going on in Seattle and couldn't make it. This conversation was repeated several more times with different people, as he had to keep explaining Vanessa's absence. He went to the bar to get himself a drink. The bar was positioned in such a way that he could get an extremely good view of the door. He ordered a scotch on the rocks and gratefully, took a gulp when the bartender handed it to him. He leaned back on to the bar and took a look around. Everyone just looked so old, he thought. He wondered if he was looking old, too.

He took a glance at the door and then, he saw her. It was no mistaking her. His heart skipped a beat. Those curls were as dark and as glossy as ever. Her skin was flawless and she showed off her neck and shoulders in a beautiful red strapless dress. His mouth suddenly felt very dry as he took another gulp. Who was she with? He peered at the man's face and realized that it was Jonas Llewellyn. Of all people, Jonas Llewellyn, he thought. He had never liked that guy. Jonas was always trying to one-up him back in medical school. He couldn't believe that she was with this guy. He racked his brain trying to think if Meredith had ever mentioned if Cristina was seriously dating anybody. Meredith, he was certain, had never said anything about that.

He contemplated whether he should go and talk to her. He was pretty sure she had not seen him. He could just disappear in the crowd and not let her know that he was there. As he stared at her, all of the feelings he ever had for her came rushing back. Whatever he felt for Vanessa was nothing like what he felt for Cristina.

No matter how hard he tried to fight it, he was drawn to her, as he ever was. He found his feet taking him towards where she stood. She was alone, as Jonas had gone chasing after a waiter, who had been serving wine. She stood just two feet in front of him, her head facing away from him. He could smell her perfume and it made him feel weak. He found himself unable to say anything. He just stood there, like a dumb fool in love. He knew he wasn't going to say anything and was about to go, when Jonas returned with two glasses in his hand.

Jonas noticed him, immediately. "Hunt, is that you?" She turned around and that is when chocolate brown eyes met cerulean blue eyes for the first time in many years.

* * *

**A/N Reviews would be awesome. It's a new story and thoughts are welcomed. Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2 Time to Talk

"Owen," she whispered. "Cristina," he answered. Jonas looked at the two of them, puzzled. "You two know each other?"

"Yes," Cristina and Owen said at the same time. "We were married." Jonas slapped his hand on his forehead. "Wow, you really _**know**_ each other. So how long ago was this?"

Cristina answered. "We got divorced nearly six years ago." Jonas whistled. "So I guess that is why you came to Boston," he said.

"Among other things," Cristina said. She turned to Owen. "So how are you?"

"I am doing alright," Owen said. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, actually, Jonas actually dragged me to this. He came to a conference with me and I had to reciprocate by coming to this reunion with him. I should have realized that you would have been here, since you are both the same age, you probably graduated the same year," she said.

"Yes, yes," Jonas butted in. "Hunt and me – we were sworn frenemies back in the day. We were always trying to get the better of each other. So what are you doing, now, Hunt?"

"I am chief of surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West. I assume you are at Mass Gen with Cristina," Owen responded.

"Yes, head of neurosurgery," Jonas said. "You definitely one-upped me there." He looked at the two of them and suddenly, felt like a third wheel. "Well, I am off to mingle and catch up with some other folks. Cristina, I leave you in good hands. I guess you two would like to reminisce and chat about the old days. Toodaloo." Jonas turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Cristina and Owen just smiled at each other, neither of them knowing what exactly to say at the moment.

"So you and Jonas…." Owen's voice trailed off. He wanted to find out if Cristina and Jonas were a couple.

"No, no," Cristina replied. "We are just friends and colleagues. If he was still married to his third wife, she would have loved to come to something like this. Jennifer was a true social butterfly. Jonas came by this morning and told me to get a hot and sexy dress. This is the best I was willing to do." She pointed to her dress.

"Well, you did a fine job. You look lovely and very sexy, too," Owen said, with a smile. He felt a sense of relief when she confirmed that she and Jonas were not a couple. He knew he shoudn't have felt that way but he couldn't help himself.

"So I heard that you are engaged," Cristina said. If Owen could ask about her and Jonas, she had every right to ask about his fiancée. He nodded. Meredith already told her, he realized, so he couldn't deny it, even though he initially wanted to do so. That was really bad, he thought to himself. Here he was, with his ex-wife, and he almost wanted to pretend that Vanessa did not exist. As he got lost in Cristina's warm brown eyes, he found himself wanting to kiss her. He stared at her pink, full lips and he could still remember the taste of her lips, even though it was so long ago. The noise in the ballroom was getting louder as more and more people arrived. Combined with all of the chatter and the blaring music, it was becoming more and more difficult to have a conversation.

He bent down and whispered in her air. "Shall we leave so we can talk?" His lips brushed against her ear and she shivered with the feel of his lips against her skin. He still had the ability to turn her on, she realized. There was no other man who could make her feel that way with just the slightest of touch. No one, not Dr Parker or the men that had followed after him, had that power over her. Not even Preston Burke had that ability and she had loved him at one time. But she had not loved Preston the way she had loved Owen.

She looked up at his earnest blue eyes and found herself unwilling and unable to say no. She nodded. As he led her out of the ballroom, she asked, "Where are we going?"

"I have a room on the 6th floor," he said. "It has a nice balcony and I can order room service, if you wish."

"Oh," she said. She was going to his hotel room. That was dangerous, she thought. How was she going to stop herself from attacking him and throwing him on the bed? "Keep calm, Cristina," she thought. "And everything will be alright." She followed him into the elevator and on to the 6th floor, watching him as he slid the key card in his door. He opened the door and allowed her to pass, before he stepped inside. It was a lovely suite, in calming colors of tan, beige and green.

"Nice room," she said, putting down her purse on the desk. She took off her shoes. Her feet were killing her from wearing these high heels. She was used to wearing sneakers all day, every day and the stilettos were doing a real number on the balls of her feet. She sat down in the chair and rubbed her feet. He grinned at her. "Shoes killing you?" he asked.

"Yeah, I knew that was one of the reasons I became a surgeon. So I could wear scrubs and sneakers every day," she said. "I was not made for stilettos." Before he could stop himself, he found himself sitting on the floor, next to her and started to gently massage her feet. He used to do that for her, when she had a long day in the OR. She watched as his large hands enveloped her small feet, massaging all of the hurt out of them.

"You still do that very well. Thank you very much. My feet feel a lot better," she said, when he was done. "I am glad that you enjoyed it," he said, as he went to the bathroom to wash his hands. "Hey, do you want to order something from room service?"

"Yeah, I guess, that would be nice," she said. "Okay," he said, emerging from the bathroom. He picked up the room service menu that was on the desk. "How about some grilled chicken focaccia? It comes with roasted tomatoes, pesto aioli and fresh mozzarella. Plus you can get green salad or fried potato wedges with it."

"That sounds good. I will take the potato wedges," she said. He picked up the phone and ordered the sandwiches. "It will be here in 15 minutes," he said. "I ordered some white wine with that, if that is okay with you."

"Yes," she said. "That's fine." He sat on the bed and observed her, sitting in the chair. "What?" she said. "Do I have something on my face?" She self-consciously put her hands to her cheeks.

"No, no," he said. "I was just thinking how beautiful you are." She blushed. "Thank you," she replied. "Just a little bit of make-up and the girl cleans up, nicely."

"It's not make-up," he said. "You've always been beautiful. Like the first time I saw you in the ER and Webber assigned you to take care of my wound. I thought I was the luckiest bastard alive, when he ordered you to fix me up. You, on the other hand, were just itching to get into surgery and I was just the means to an end."

"Oh, don't sell yourself short. I was pretty darn impressed with you, when you took that stapler to your wound. Badass army surgeon," she said. "If Callie hadn't come into that room, you may have gotten lucky with a kiss."

"Yeah, but I still got my kiss, later that night, if I remember well. Sweetest kiss I had in a while. The first of many," he said. They both laughed but their laughter was also tinged with sadness as they were both so fully aware of their current circumstances. She knew that they would be so lost in their reminiscing, she had to remind them of what was presently happening in their lives.

"So you're engaged. To a realtor, I hear. Vanessa Collins, right?" she asked.

"Wow, Meredith has kept you well-informed," he said. "Yes, her name is Vanessa Collins and she is a realtor."

"So when is the wedding?" Cristina asked.

"In three months," Owen responded. It was killing him to tell Cristina the details. "At the end of summer, before her daughter goes off to college."

"She has kids?" Cristina was surprised. Owen nodded, before answering. "Yeah, three kids but they are all pretty much grown up. Her oldest, Sarah is 18, then, there is Troy, he is 17 and her youngest is Olivia, who is 16. Vanessa is divorced."

"Oh," Cristina replied. "I guess congratulations are in order, then. Soon, you will be a married man. I hope you will be very happy." Her voice cracked as she said it, indicating that was some fair amount of emotional turmoil within her. He heard the strain in her voice and he gave her the most rueful look.

"Owen!" she exclaimed, as she saw his look. "Don't worry about me. I want you to be happy. If Vanessa and her kids make you happy, then I am all for it. Besides, I have other things in my life that are going to help me cope with your impending marriage."

"Like what?" he asked. "Are you in a relationship?"

"If you are asking if I am dating someone, the answer to that is no," she said. "I just have other plans." She was wary about letting Owen know about her plans to have a child, knowing full well that the termination of her pregnancy, so many years ago, set the stage for the demise of their marriage.

"Tell me," he urged. "I want you to be happy, too. I still care about what happens to you." She was silent as she studied his face. She took a deep breath, before she spoke. "I am planning to have a child." With her words, she immediately noticed the strickened look on his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she said. "I know this still hurts you." He knew he was thinking of the baby he had lost. That baby would have been a little older than six years, if Cristina had not terminated the pregnancy.

He lay back on the bed. His heart was beating out of his chest. "So how are you going to go about this? You said you weren't with anybody. Artificial insemination?" he asked. The words were hard to come out of him but he still wanted to ask.

"Yes," she said. "I have narrowed the donors to three candidates. I have their folders on my desk but it has been hard, trying to choose one. My doctor says we will try artificial insemination first and if that doesn't work, then we are going to try in-vitro. You know I am pretty far along from being a spring chicken. I am 38 years old and my fertility window is becoming even smaller, so I have to get cracking on this."

"Oh," he said. They stayed quiet for several minutes, neither of them not knowing what to say. The silence was broken by the knock on the door and the sound of the attendant saying, "Room Service." Owen quickly got up from the bed, opened the door and allowed the room service attendant to wheel in their order. The attendant opened the bottle of wine and he was rewarded with a generous tip from Owen. He offered them a quick goodbye before he left.

Owen poured the wine into the glasses. He handed Cristina a plate and they hungrily wolfed down their sandwiches. "This is good," Cristina said. He had to agree. They each had a first glass of wine and before they knew it, they had finished the bottle.

"I need to lie down," she said, as she joined him on the bed. She lay back on the bed, holding her tummy. He leaned back on to the bed. Their faces were less than a foot away from each other. They gazed at each other. Maybe it was the wine, maybe it was the longing, maybe it was the memories, he reached over and pulled her face closer to him and captured her lips with his own.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for the reviews. I do appreciate when you take the time to leave your thoughts.**


	3. Chapter 3 The Day After

She found herself kissing him back with equal ferocity. As their kisses became even more urgent, she found herself climbing on top of him, as they continued kissing, their lips and tongues becoming familiar, once more. It was when she realized his hands were going up her dress and caressing the sides of her thighs and reaching to touch her there that she finally caught herself. She rolled off him and said, "Oh, hell! What am I doing?" She got up from the bed, immediately. He sat up, too, with the most pained eyes.

"I am sorry," he said. "I don't know what got into me." She gave him a sympathetic look. "Don't be sorry, Owen. It was my fault, too. I was into it as much as you."

They both sighed, simultaneously. She continued, "Don't get me wrong. I would have done this. I really would but then I realized that it would have just turned out to be a one-night stand and I don't want to be your one-night stand." He knew where she was coming from. As much as he could still feel pain about her abortion, he knew that his one-night stand with the nameless girl from the bar, had wounded her, deeply.

Cristina started pacing as she talked. "You are an engaged man and me sleeping with you, would make me the other woman. I refuse to be the other woman."

"I understand," he said, quietly. Her refusal still hurt but he understood. With a fiancee back in Seattle, he really could not push it, even though he wanted her so. His feelings for her were still there, he knew.

"I think I should be leaving. Jonas is probably wondering where I am," she said, as she sat down at the desk, to put back on her stilettos. He couldn't believe that this was going to be the end. That she was going to walk out of her hotel room and they would go back as they were before the reunion. He could not end it like this.

"Cristina," he said, softly. She looked up. "Yes."

"Um, I was wondering if I could call you, when I get back to Seattle," he asked. "I would like to be able to keep in touch."

He saw the hesitation and doubt flicker across her face. She paused before she answered. "Okay," she said, simply. He breathed a sigh of relief. "What's your number?" he asked. She gave it to him and watched as he put it into his phone.

"What about your number?" she asked. "Do you need to give that to me?"

"No," he said. "My number has remained the same, all of these years. I can give it to you, if you have forgotten it."

"No," she said. "I know your number. It is on my phone, already. I just never used it." She stood up and came forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Take care of yourself, Owen."

"You, too," he said, as he took her hand and gave it a kiss. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye," she replied, as she turned and left the room. He fell back on his bed, dazed and confused.

* * *

Cristina made it back to the ballroom and found Jonas, chatting with some of his former classmates. She went and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, Jonas," she said.

He turned around and led her away from the group. "Hey, stranger. Where did you disappear to?" he grinned at her, since he already knew where she had gone.

"Owen and I went off somewhere quiet to catch up on our lives," she said. "And how was that?" he asked.

"Interesting," she said. That was all she was willing to say.

"I bet," Jonas said. "The chemistry between the two of you is so obvious. I could feel the sexual tension oozing from your pores. When you were together in front of me, it was like I wasn't even there. It was just the two of you in the room."

"Well, we did share a great love. I loved him more than any other man in my life. He is my weakness," she admitted. "But it doesn't matter anymore. He is getting married." Jonas made an audible gasp.

"Yes, Jonas," she continued. "He is engaged and getting married in three months." Jonas whistled. "Well, maybe it is a good thing that he is going back to Seattle," he replied.

"Yeah, a good thing. Jonas, can we go home now? Have you seen enough of your old pals? I am getting tired and feeling emotionally drained," she said.

"Sure," Jonas said, as he gave her his arm and went to get their coats, before they headed out to the hotel parking lot.

* * *

Back in his hotel room, Owen sadly changed out of his suit and put on his pajamas. He picked up his phone and stared at Cristina's number. He wondered if he would ever use it. He jumped when the phone suddenly rang. It was Vanessa. He answered. "Hey, Vanessa," he said.

"Owen, how is your reunion going?" she asked. "Did you catch up with your old friends?"

"Some," he said. The guilt was killing him as he spoke, so he tried to sound cheery and light. "So did you deal go through?"

"Yes," she said. "It is a good thing I stayed. So you will be back in the morning?"

"Yes," he said. "Taking the 6.30 a.m. flight back to Seattle."

"Good," she replied, sweetly. "There is something important I need to talk to you about."

"What?" he asked. He was getting a little apprehensive as he recognized that saccharine tone in her voice. She always used it when she was going to do or say something that he was not going to particularly like.

"Don't get so defensive, Owen," she said. "It is about our living arrangements after we get married."

"Oh," he said. "Okay." He greatly suspected that she was going to suggest that he sell the firehouse and he could see the logic of it. But it was not going to be that easy. Cristina had bought the firehouse for him because he had loved it and she had loved him. It was still a symbol of the love that they had for one another.

Vanessa said, "Well, I better let you get some sleep so you would be able to make your early flight in the morning. Goodbye."

"Bye," Owen said, before he hung up. His mind was all in a muddle, right now. Here he was, marrying Vanessa, this lovely, kind woman, who was a fabulous homemaker and mother. Then, his whole life gets disrupted, when the love of his life steps back into it, looking like a dream come true, in her red dress. That beautiful, infuriating, aggravating woman with the porcelain face and the darkest curls, who invaded his dreams and his senses. He closed his eyes and realized he could still smell her perfume on his sheets. He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Damn you, Cristina. How could you walk back into my life now?"

* * *

The next morning found Cristina at her office, going through the folders of her three prospective sperm donors. It was a hard task but she eventually chose one. Subconsciously, she had chosen a man who had Owen's blonde coloring, blue eyes and height. She called her doctor and told him which of the three she had chosen. "Oh, good, Dr. Yang, we can finally get this ball rolling. Hoping we can get you pregnant as soon as possible." His previous tests had shown that she did not have ovulation problems and had a regular cycle. This, he said, was a very good sign. She knew exactly when she was ovulating and they made an appointment for her to come into his clinic.

Owen arrived back at the firehouse, the next morning. He went straight to the firehouse, instead of passing at Vanessa's house, first, as he usually did. Somehow, he just didn't feel like it. He opened his carry-on luggage and tossed his dirty clothes into the laundry basket. He put his suit in a bag to be taken to the dry cleaners. His phone rang. He knew it had to be Vanessa. "Owen," he heard her say. "Are you back in Seattle?"

"Yes," he said. "I got the taxi to take me straight to the firehouse."

"Oh, I have breakfast waiting for you," she said. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, I grabbed a sandwich at the airport so I am not hungry. Besides, I am heading into the hospital to check up on what I missed when I was gone, yesterday," he said.

"Alright, Owen," she said. "I guess you can come by for dinner and we can talk about it, then. The kids will be here for dinner but then, they are all off to do their own things, afterwards, so we do have a place for ourselves. Hint, hint." She laughed. Owen didn't join in the laughter so he just said. "Sure, I will be there around 6. Is that okay?"

"Fine," Vanessa said. "I will see you then." Owen hung up his phone, changed into a pale blue shirt, dark pants and a striped tie. He tried to busy himself at the hospital with the paperwork and meetings. He missed the grind of the emergency room, a lot, when he was drowning in paperwork. Sometimes, he would go down in the pit and get involved but those times were getting fewer and fewer.

He wrapped up his day and headed to Vanessa's house. He used his key to get in the house. "Hello," he said. "I am here." Vanessa came out from the kitchen, while Owen observed her three teenagers sprawled across the furniture in the living room. Vanessa had chestnut brown hair with brown eyes to match. She was a conventionally pretty woman, which proved to be an asset in her realty business.

"Hello, Owen," she said. She gave him a light kiss on the lips. The kids acknowledged his presence by waving or saying, "Hey, Owen."

"Dinner is ready," Vanessa said, as she took off her apron. "Come on, kids." Everyone headed to the dining room for dinner. It was a pleasant dinner. The kids talked about their day, while Vanessa discussed her big deal. After dinner, as Vanessa had said, the kids all disappeared out of the house to hang out with their friends. Vanessa handed Owen a cup of coffee and they headed to the living room.

"Well, Vanessa, you wanted to discuss something," he started.

"Yes," Vanessa started, uneasily. She knew that Owen was very attached to the firehouse but he never explained why that was so. "I think you should sell the firehouse and you could move in here, when we get married. I mean the kids are well settled here, already."

Owen's stomach churned at the thought of selling the firehouse. He had already had an inkling that Vanessa wanted to sell the firehouse. "We could get a good deal for it," Vanessa said. "A couple of million dollars, downtown location plus you had refurbished it so well. A hip, young couple would just love it, there."

Owen was silent. Vanessa knew he was not taking this well. He put down his half-empty coffee cup. He knew that what she was saying was true but it didn't make it any less hard.

"Vanessa, I will think about it," he said. "I am going back to the firehouse, now." He got up to leave.

"Well, um. I was wondering whether you would want to stay the night," she asked. He looked at her, feeling a little ashamed. Less than 24 hours before, he had been kissing another woman. Not just any woman, but his ex-wife, the love of his life. It was so wrong but somehow, it also felt right.

"Just feeling a little tired from all of that traveling in such a short space of time," he said.

"Okay, are you mad, Owen? About me asking to sell the firehouse," she said.

"No, no. I am not mad. I am just tired. I will think about it, though," he said. He wished he could tell her what he had happened and what he was feeling but he didn't want to hurt her. He gave her a kiss and quietly left.

When he got home, he took a shower and lay naked on his bed. He closed his eyes and remembered Cristina kissing him, the night before. It was as if he could still feel and taste her. He found himself hardening at the thought of her. He was glad he was alone because of his body's fierce reaction.

His phone rang. It must be Vanessa, he thought. He answered without looking at the screen. "Hello," he said.

"Hey, it's me," the voice said. It was not Vanessa.

"Cristina," he whispered her name.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for leaving your thoughts. I do appreciate it.**


	4. Chapter 4 The Break-Up

"Hey, you," Owen said, happily. "Good to hear from you. What is up?"

"I just wanted to see if the number still worked," she said. "I just wanted to make sure that I had it right."

"Well, I am happy that you did," he replied, as he checked the time on his bedside clock. "It is nine o' clock here so it is midnight, there. You're calling really late. Well, not late for me, but late for you."

"I couldn't sleep," Cristina told him. "Lots of things running through my mind." She had been lying in bed, staring at the ceiling and thinking about him.

"Mine, too," he admitted. There was silence for a few seconds. Then, they both started talking at the same time. They both laughed.

"You first," he said.

"So I was thinking from since last night, we still have a connection with each other or am I fooling myself?" she asked.

"Yeah, we do. It is still as strong as ever," he said. He didn't really want to say how strong, given that he had just been fantasizing about her.

"Well, we do have a lot of history. I was wondering that since we do have this connection, can we still talk to each other, honestly, about things that are happening in our lives?" she asked.

"I would think that we can," he said.

"It's just that our lives are so separate now, I don't want us to hurt each other when we talk about certain things," she said.

"Oh, you mean if I talk about Vanessa and the kids," he offered. She cringed when he mentioned Vanessa and her children.

"Yeah, like that," she answered. "And like if I talk about my efforts to have a child. Will that be too hard for you? I am asking because it is the most important thing going on in my life, other than my work, of course."

He swallowed hard. The thought that Cristina was going to have a child and it was not going to his baby, hit him at his very core. But he answered, "Yeah, it is okay." He wanted to keep that connection with Cristina alive.

"Thank you," she said. "Because today, I made a choice among the donor candidates. I am going in a couple of days, since that is when I will be ovulating."

"Oh, that soon," he said. He couldn't believe it. Next week, she was going in for artificial insemination with some unknown donor's sperm. His heart ached.

"Yes, hopefully, it is going to work before I have to start taking drastic measures," she said.

"I am sure it is going to work," he said. "You have good doctors." Even though he was saying these words, deep down inside, he hoped it would not work. He knew it was selfish but he could not help the way he felt.

"Thank you," she said. "So how was your day?"

"I had a busy day at work. Had to catch up with the stuff I missed yesterday when I went to Boston. I saw Vanessa and her kids for dinner," he said. It was her turn for her heart to ache.

"Yes, how are they?" she said, trying to sound cheery. Owen found that there was a falseness about it, but he didn't say anything.

"They are alright," he said. "You know Vanessa is a realtor. Well, she is trying to get me to put the firehouse on the market. She says it is worth a couple of million dollars because of the downtown location and the way we refurbished it."

"You're selling the firehouse?" her voice cracked, showing her first real emotion. She caught herself when she said, "Well, it is your house, now. You can sell it, if you wish."

He knew exactly how she was feeling because he felt the same way, too. "I know; I am sentimental about the firehouse, too. You bought it for me because I loved it," he said. He didn't finish the sentence that she had bought it because she had loved him. They were both silent.

"I guess it does make sense," she said. "The firehouse isn't really the place for a family with three teenagers. So she wants you to move into her house? Since she is a realtor, I am sure it is a very nice house."

"Yes, she does have a nice house but …." His voice trailed off.

"I think I am going to try to go to sleep, now," she said. "Good night, Owen."

"Good night, Cristina," he said. "I hope you can get a good night's sleep."

"Yeah, me, too," she replied. "Goodbye."

"Cristina," he said. He really didn't want the conversation to end but he recognized that the proposed sale of the firehouse had saddened her.

"Yes?" she said, softly. "Can I call you, tomorrow?" he asked. "Sure," she said. "Thanks," he said. "Goodbye." He waited for her to hang up, before he did. As he put down his phone on the bedside table, he felt a mix of emotions. He felt sad because of the content of their conversation but he also felt happy that she had reached out to call him. He lay back on his bed and stared at the ceiling of the firehouse. He remembered when he had chosen that particular ceiling. He had to admit that he had done a darn good job of fixing that place up. In that instant, he knew exactly what he was going to do about the place.

* * *

The next morning, the first thing he did was to call Vanessa and tell her that he had made a decision about the firehouse. "Great," she said. "I will start writing up the listing."

"I didn't say I was going to sell, Vanessa," he told her.

"Oh, what other decision could you have made? You're keeping the place?" she had an incredulous tone to her voice.

"Yes, but I am willing to rent it out," he said. "Maybe I will want to sell in the future, but for now, I just want to get it rented. I am sure you can do that for me."

"Yeah, sure. But why are you so attached to that place? I never understood why," she said. "Especially since I have asked you to move in with me, before, because I have such a big house." Owen sighed. Maybe it was time to tell her the truth.

"My ex-wife had bought it, when we were married," he said.

"What?" Vanessa spluttered out. She didn't understand that at all. She knew that Owen's ex-wife, Cristina had left him six years ago and had moved to Minnesota and then to Boston. She also knew that Cristina was a luminary in the world of cardio-thoracic surgery. That was the extent she knew about the woman because Owen had ever rarely talked about her. There was the time at the firehouse, Vanessa had found two framed photos of Owen and Cristina in his bedside drawer. One was of their wedding day kiss and the other was a casual photo with the both of them with Cristina draping her arm around Owen's shoulder. Though they weren't on display, she knew they meant something to Owen that he still kept them. The specter of the ex-wife was looming in their relationship more than ever. Vanessa wondered what had triggered this. She was not a naïve woman. Owen started acting strange when he returned from Boston.

"Boston!" she shrieked. "You saw her! That's why you have been acting so weird. You didn't come over for breakfast, the morning you came home. Then, last night at dinner, you couldn't get out of my house, fast enough. You didn't want to stay over and then you got upset about selling the firehouse."

Owen felt really bad about this, especially hurting Vanessa. After all, they were still engaged but everything he had always felt for Cristina, was still there and that he could not deny.

"Yes, I saw her," Owen admitted, sadly. "She was at the reunion with one of my former classmates. It was just by accident. And we talked."

"That's it! You talked…..or did you do something else, Owen?" Vanessa asked. "Did you sleep with Cristina?" Her heart had sunk to her stomach but she needed to ask this question.

"No," Owen said, truthfully. "I did not sleep with Cristina." Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief. Owen felt that it was not fair to Vanessa to not tell the whole truth. He was having feelings for his ex-wife he could not fight. He had been weak from the moment he saw her.

He continued, "No, I didn't sleep with Cristina but that doesn't mean that I didn't want to." He could hear the sobbing on the other end of the line.

"I am so sorry, Vanessa," he said. "So, so sorry."

"What does this all mean?" she said between the sobs. "Do you have feelings for her?"

"Yes," he said. With that, Vanessa let out a loud wail and hung up. Owen leaned back against his bed. He felt terrible that he had hurt Vanessa like this. He wasn't so sure of what the status of his engagement was. He wondered if he was making a mess of his life by admitting this. But he knew that Vanessa deserved better than this. She was a lovely woman who was a great mother and would have undoubtedly, made a great wife. He just didn't love her the way he should. There wasn't the magic he felt when he thought about Cristina.

Cristina, the love of my life, he thought. He wasn't even with Cristina and there he was, disrupting his entire life for her. In a couple of days, she was going to get inseminated with donor sperm. He needed to stop that. He didn't want her getting pregnant for some unknown man. He was going to talk to her, tonight about it.

* * *

He did not hear anything from Vanessa, for the entire day. He was worried about her. He decided he was going to pass by her house, before he went home that evening. He needed to make sure that she was okay. He knocked on the door. Vanessa's oldest daughter, Sarah, opened the door. "Owen, I hope you have come to fix this. You can't do this to her. She loves you."

"Where is she, Sarah?" he asked, as she let him into the house.

"In her bedroom," Sarah said. "She has been crying all day. We didn't know what was wrong until she said that you met up with your ex-wife and that you still had feelings for her. Please say that isn't true, Owen."

Vanessa's two other children, Troy and Olivia, were also there. They both had resentful looks on their faces. "I am very sorry, guys," Owen said. He was feeling so guilty. He went to Vanessa's bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Vanessa, it's me, Owen," he said. At the sound of his voice, he could hear Vanessa let out a wail. "I know you probably don't want to see me, Vanessa but I am coming in." He let out a deep breath before he opened the door. Vanessa was sprawled out on her bed, hugging her pillow. Her face was buried in another pillow, while she wept. He sat on the edge of the bed and stroked her hair.

"I am so sorry, Vanessa, but you deserve better than this, better than me," he said. "You need somebody who will love you the way you deserved to be loved." She looked up at him with a tear-streaked face. "So why can't it be you?"

He didn't say anything because he knew that she already knew the answer. "It's all because of her," Vanessa spat out. "Your precious wife. You may be divorced but you still think of her as your wife." That was true, Owen knew.

"I am sorry, Vanessa," he said. "I cannot marry you because I love her." He got up. "I wish I hadn't hurt you. This is my greatest regret." As he was leaving, Vanessa took off her ring and threw it at him. Owen left her bedroom and the house. Vanessa's children all glared at him, as he left.

When he got home, he called Cristina, immediately. He needed to talk to her. His call went straight to voicemail. She probably was in a surgery, if she wasn't answering her phone. He left a message, "Cristina, I really need to speak to you. Please call me." He had a restless night, as he could barely sleep.

* * *

The next day, he noticed that he still had not received a call from Cristina but there was a text from her She said that she was a little busy and she would call him, tonight. He felt so happy. His heart was so light that day that even though he was busy, it seemed to pass in a blink of an eye. He got home and waited for Cristina's call. He jumped with excitement when his phone rang. He answered it, eagerly. "Hey there now," he said.

"Hey, Owen," she said. "How are you?"

"I am fine, so really fine," he said. "What about you? I have so much to tell you."

"Yeah, me, too," she said. "I am pretty happy. I went to the doctor, this morning. I got inseminated."

Owen could not believe this. "What!"

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thank you for leaving your thoughts. I do appreciate reading what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5 Let's Make a Deal

"What did you just say?" Owen said. He knew what he had heard but somehow, it did not really sink in because he did not want to believe it.

"Oh, I got inseminated this morning," Cristina said, happily. "Hopefully, it will work."

"Yeah, I thought that is what you said," he said. His heart felt heavy, once again. He had changed his whole life to be with her and now, maybe, it was not going to work out the way he planned. "When will we know if it works?"

"I am giving it 14 days and then, I will take a blood test. I could take one a little earlier but I want to be sure," she said. "I am really excited about it."

"I can imagine," he said. Every word she said was hurting him.

"So what do you need to tell me?" she asked. He was going to tell her about how he broke off his engagement with Vanessa but he decided against it. He didn't want her to feel obligated or anything like that because he had sacrificed so much for her. He wanted her to come to him on her own.

"Oh, I got a grant for some research I was doing," he said. "I wanted to start publishing again." It wasn't a lie. He did get a rather large research grant but he had got it last week before he had even met up with Cristina, again.

"That is wonderful, Owen. I know the Chief of Surgery job keeps you really busy but you really need to start publishing, again," she said. "I would love to read your work."

They then started a lengthy conversation about what they were both working on and before they knew it, two hours had passed.

"Hey, I better get some sleep," she said. "I have surgery in the morning. I can't be tired and operating on someone's heart. Bye, Owen."

"Bye, Cristina," he said. "Talk again, soon."

"Yup," she said. "You know, Owen, I am glad we are doing this. Reconnecting with each other. It feels good, it feels right."

"Yeah, me too," he answered. He waited until she hung up the phone. He lay on his bed, with so many mixed emotions. He wanted to be with her but he knew he had to take things slow. He didn't want to push her. He was in such turmoil about the insemination. He wasn't quite sure how he would deal with it, if the insemination was successful. To have her pregnant with a stranger's child churned his stomach. Still, he knew he would have to deal with it, if he wanted Cristina back in his life.

* * *

The next day, he had to deal with telling people at the hospital that the wedding was off. He had a list of people, who had received invitations to the wedding and was calling them, individually to tell them. Everyone offered their sympathy but he didn't go into too much detail about why the engagement was broken. There was one person that he needed to speak to, more than anyone else. He found Meredith near the nurses' station, updating a chart. He went up to her and quietly said, "Dr. Grey, can I speak to you in private?" Meredith looked up and observed his anxious face. "Certainly, Dr. Hunt," she replied. They went to the closest supply closet.

"I wanted to tell you that my wedding is off," Owen said.

"Oh," Meredith said. "I am very sorry to hear that, Owen. I hope you are alright."

"Yes, yes, I am," he said. "I need to ask you a huge favor. I know you and Cristina keep in touch, all of the time. I am asking that you don't tell her that my engagement is off."

"Why?" Meredith asked. Then, it dawned on her. "You did this for her. You broke off your engagement for Cristina. She did tell me that you guys met up at the Harvard Medical School reunion the other night and that you have started talking to each other."

"I don't want Cristina to be pressured in thinking that she has to be with me because I broke off my engagement and that I did it for her," he said. "I don't want to push her. I want her to come to me on her own terms."

Meredith smiled. "You've never given up on her. You've always hoped that she would come back to you."

"Yes," Owen replied. "She is the love of my life. Whenever I am around her, I cannot think straight."

"Okay, Owen, your secret is safe with me. I won't tell her," Meredith replied. "Good luck, Owen. I certainly wouldn't mind if you could get her back here at Seattle Grace. I have missed her so much over the years."

"Thank you, Meredith," Owen replied. As she was going, she turned, swiftly, "You do know that she got herself inseminated yesterday." Owen nodded, sadly. Meredith could see the pain in his face so she didn't press any further.

When she left, Owen leaned back on one of the shelves. He sighed. All he had to do now was to wait to find out the results of her blood test.

Over the next two weeks, he found himself extremely busy with both his research project and his duties as Chief of Surgery but every night, he and Cristina still talked on the phone. They talked about everything and anything, especially all of the funny incidents that happened while they were at work. Cristina noticed that Owen never spoke about Vanessa and the kids. She thought that maybe, he was trying to spare her feelings by not discussing them. She also took a cue from this and didn't talk much about the insemination, that is, until the day before she was going in for the blood test.

"I'm going in for the blood test, tomorrow," she told him. He knew the time for this was coming. "Yeah, I know," he said. "Call me when you find out the results."

"Yeah, I will," she said. "I am excited but also a little scared."

"It will be okay, even if it doesn't work, you can always try again," he told her in a reassuring voice. If she only knew that he was hoping that it was not successful and he didn't really want her to try again.

"Yeah," she said. "Good night, Owen."

"Bye," he whispered to her.

* * *

The next day, he was on total pins and needles. He was terribly distracted, too. He was helping out in the ER. Dr. April Kepner, who ran the ER, asked if something was the matter. "Just a little bit distracted," he admitted. "Got a lot of things on my mind."

"Sir, you may be my boss but I need you to focus here," Kepner said.

"Yes, yes," Owen said, pushing out all thoughts of Cristina and her impending results out of his mind. It was probably a good thing that he did not hear from her all day.

When he got home, he had his dinner and awaited her call. He wanted to call but he figured it would be better if she did. He paced as he waited. "Come on, Cristina, call me. I need to know this, now." He lay on his bed and was almost falling asleep when his phone rang. He jumped up, startled by the ringing. He looked at the screen. It was her. He took a deep breath, before he answered, afraid of what he was going to hear.

"Hey," he answered. "How ya doing?" There was a pause on the other end. "Cristina?"

"I am not pregnant," she said, flatly. He could hear the frustration in her voice. He was ecstatic but he could not let her know that. He controlled his voice before he spoke.

"I am sorry, Cristina," he said. "I know you are disappointed about this. But you can try again." He almost bit his tongue when he said those last words. Of course, he didn't want her to try again but he had to say that.

"I am definitely going to do so," she said. "In two weeks' time. I really don't want to go through the in-vitro route because I have to undergo all of these injections."

"Yeah," he said. She was silent and he could tell by the sound of her breaths that she was crying. "Don't cry, baby." He wished he was there to hold her. He listened to her cry until she finally spoke. "I am sorry, Owen, I am not very good company, tonight. I better hang up."

"Okay," Owen said. As much as he was happy that she was not pregnant, he could still feel her pain. "I am sorry," he said. This time, he really meant it. He could not bear to see her hurt. If he could take away her hurt, he would have. They hung up the phone, each of them feeling unsettled.

* * *

He didn't hear from her in a few days. He tried calling her but she didn't answer. In the meantime, a plan was formulating in his brain. He couldn't have her go through another round of insemination. Suppose this time, it actually worked. He had to stop her. He knew what he was going to do.

He was getting a little frantic that she wasn't taking his calls but then, one night, she answered. "Cristina, finally," he said. "I have been calling you, every night."

"I am sorry, Owen, for some reason, I have had a whole lot of late surgeries this week. I saw your calls and I just did not have time to call you back," she said.

"How have you been?" he asked. "Better than the last time we spoke?"

"Yes, definitely. I got over my initial disappointment and I am over it, now. I just have to look forward to next week and think positively that this time, insemination is going to work," she told him.

"I don't want you to do that," he said, firmly.

"What? The insemination?" she asked, surprised at his statement. "Why not?"

"I was thinking that maybe, it would be better if you tried to do it, the natural way," he said. She laughed.

"Well, I don't have someone, Owen. I am not in a relationship," she said. "That's why I am doing this."

"What if you had someone who was willing to do this?" he asked. She paused. What was he talking about?

"Who?" she finally asked. "Me," he said. "I want to do it. I want to help you have a child. I want to be the father of your child."

"Um, Owen," she said. "Thank you very much for your offer but won't your fiancée mind that you're offering to impregnate me the natural way?"

"Don't worry about that," he said, trying to deflect questions about Vanessa.

"No, Owen, I can't do that to another woman," she said. He knew he had to lay all of his cards on the table. She was not going to budge, otherwise.

"Vanessa is no longer a factor," he admitted. "We broke up. The engagement is off. There is not going to be a wedding."

"Oh," she said. "I need to think about this, Owen. What do you get out of this? Do you expect to be part of this child's life?"

"I get the child that I always wanted," he said. "Yes, I would hope that you would give me the opportunity to play a role in his or her life."

"Are you sure about this?" she asked.

"More sure about this than anything I have ever been in my entire life," he said. "I want to do this. With you." She was silent. "Owen, I will have to think about this. I really do. I thank you very much for the offer. But I need to mull this over. I will get back to you. I promise," she said. "This is a huge decision for me because I am actually moving from having a child on my own to having one with someone else, who will be part of the child's life."

"Okay," he said. "That is fair enough. But I would like you to know that it would mean a whole lot to me."

"Alright, Owen," she said. "Good bye."

"Goodbye," he said. He hung up the phone and fell back on to his bed. There was nothing more he could do. The decision lay in her hands.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for taking the time to leave your reviews.**


	6. Chapter 6 The Decision

Cristina hung up the phone, wondering what it would be like to have a child with Owen. She knew that physically, they were still attracted to each other. That brief little session in his hotel room on the night of the Harvard Medical School reunion had proven that. They turned each other on so easily. They could have easily had sex that night, she knew, but he had been engaged to Vanessa, then and she was not going to be the reason that Owen had cheated on his fiancée.

Now he was no longer attached to Vanessa, there wasn't any reason why they couldn't be physical with each other. She wondered what had gone wrong between Owen and Vanessa. She hoped that she was not the reason that they had broken up. They must have had other problems, she reasoned. Still, she felt sorry about their break-up. It was always sad when a couple breaks up. She always remembered the pain when she and Owen had divorced.

The implications of having Owen's child were many. It wasn't like he was a nameless sperm donor, identified by only a number that she had picked out of a sperm bank. He was a living, breathing person that she actually knew. And he wasn't just any guy. He was her former husband, a man she had loved very much. If she was being truthful to herself, it was a man she still loved.

She wasn't quite sure what he felt for her, right now. Maybe he felt nothing for her. After all, he was just coming off a broken relationship and probably was not going to start any rebound relationship with her. In that case, maybe it would be wise that she should treat the whole baby-making issue as a business relationship. Maybe that would be the wisest thing to do, she thought. She should get a lawyer to do up a contract between her and Owen, stating each person's rights and responsibilities towards the child like visitation and financial obligations.

But she was getting ahead of herself, she knew. She hadn't even made up her mind about whether she was going to go through with it. She knew she was already leaning in one direction. She fell asleep, still thinking about it.

* * *

The next day, she wanted to bounce off the idea off of someone. There was only one person she could talk to about this. In her office, she closed the door and dialed Meredith's number.

"Hey, Mer, are you busy?" she said, as soon as her friend answered.

"I have got a couple of minutes before surgery. Tell me, what do you want to talk about?" Meredith replied.

"Well, you know how the insemination didn't work, the last time, and well, I am scheduled for another appointment this weekend, when I am ovulating again," Cristina started. She got up and started pacing in her office.

"Go on," Meredith urged. Cristina took a deep breath before she spoke. "Someone has offered to be the father of my child and he thinks we should do it, the normal way."

"What?" Meredith started to laugh. "Are you sure he just doesn't want to have sex with you, Cristina? I mean that is a great ploy if he just wants to have sex with you."

"Stop laughing, Meredith. I am serious here," Cristina said. "It is not a ploy. I have had sex with this person before so it is not like he just wants to have sex with me. Well, maybe he does because I want to have sex with him. But…but that is beside the point. He wants to be part of the child's life and help raise it."

"Whoa," Meredith said. "Now that is serious. He is clearly stepping up to the plate. Okay, you know what he wants. How do you feel about it?"

"I am not sure. That's why I am calling you. In terms of having a baby with someone, he is more than likely the best possible person I could have it with. He is smart, handsome, responsible and reliable. That's a plus. Then, comes the hard part. Am I willing to share this child with this person? With insemination, I was prepared to take care of it by myself, both emotionally and physically. I was going to be independent, able to make my own choices with this child's upbringing. With this person, we are going to have to raise this child together. I am going to have to take into consideration his feelings and his choices in taking care of this child," Cristina said.

The description of the person sounded like someone that Meredith knew. "Um, Cristina, by any chance, is this person Owen?" Meredith said. Cristina paused before she answered. "Yes."

"I knew it! I knew it!" Meredith shrieked. She cackled on the other side.

"Meredith, stop that!" Cristina said. "Stop talking so loud. He is the chief of surgery there and we don't want people knowing his business."

"Oh, I am sorry," Meredith said. "But if you do decide to go with a known donor, he is perhaps the best bet for you."

"Well, since he broke up with his fiancée, I guess it is okay, now to sleep with him," Cristina said.

"Hmm," Meredith said. "So you know about that?"

"Yeah," Cristina responded. "I told him that I wouldn't want to go through with something like that, when he had a fiancée. Then, he told me that they had broken up. Do you know why they broke up? He didn't tell me. Not that I have a right to know or anything like that but do you have any idea about what happened?"

"Um, no," Meredith answered. She knew she was lying through her teeth but she had to abide by Owen's wishes. She was glad that they were on the phone and Cristina was not in front of her. Cristina would have seen that she was lying if they were face to face. "He just told me that they had called the wedding off."

"Oh, okay," Cristina said. "So what do you think?"

"Okay, Cristina. Owen and I have had our differences in the past and we both know those differences were mainly about you. But there is one thing I cannot deny. He has always put you first. He will be a great father, if you let him," Meredith said. "That's just what I think. As for your relationship with him, I think that is something you would both have to figure out."

"Thanks, Meredith," Cristina said. "You are a great friend. Bye."

"Talk to you later, Cristina," Meredith said. As she hung up, Cristina let a breath out. Meredith had articulated what she had already thought. She was going to tell Owen yes.

* * *

Since he had made the proposal, Owen's mind was in a state of constant flux. He had so many different emotions. First, there was the hope that they could finally be a family and then there was the fear that she would say no. He wasn't sure where he stood but his dream of a family with Cristina was right there. It was close to being a reality.

As he headed down to the pit to help out, he saw Meredith. She nodded at him and gave him a knowing smile. At least, he thought it was a knowing smile. He wondered if Cristina had spoken to her. If there was anybody in the world that Cristina would speak to about the situation, it would be Meredith. He almost turned around to ask her. But he stopped himself. No, no, he thought. It would have to come from Cristina – he wanted to hear it from her.

He lay in his bed, awaiting her call. He tried reading some of his research notes but he was too distracted. He stared at his phone on the bedside table. "Ring, damn you, ring." He got up to get a glass of water and had made it all the way to the kitchen, when he heard the phone ring. He ran back to the bedroom and answered, immediately.

"Cristina?" he said, a little breathlessly.

"Yeah, it is me. Were you running?" she asked.

"Just from the kitchen. I thought it was you, so I ran to answer it. I am a little bit on the anxious side," he said. "So have you thought about it?"

"Yes, I have," she said. "I thought about it all day."

"Well, please don't keep me in suspense because I am dying here," he said. His heart started to beat, a little faster.

"Yes," she said, simply. "Is that what I think it means?" he yelled. "Yes, we are going to do this, right?"

"Yes," she repeated. "We are going to do this."

"Cristina, you have just made me the happiest man in the world," he said. "I feel like dancing it out in the firehouse."

"I am glad that you are happy. So what about our contract?" she asked, quietly.

"Contract?" he was puzzled. "What the heck are you talking about?"

"I talked to a lawyer today and he said we should have a contract about the baby. You know, visitation rights, financial obligations, that kind of thing," she said. Owen was shocked.

"This is not a business transaction, Cristina. We are making a baby together," he said.

"But the lawyer said we should each protect our own interest in this," she countered.

"I am not going to have a baby and have some lawyer dictate terms and conditions about this child," he said, angrily. "I am not going to accept that. There will be no contract about our baby."

"Okay, Owen," she said. He really sounded upset, she thought. She didn't know that he would get that mad about it.

"Thank you," he said. He hated the talk about the baby contract, as if their child was some sort of commodity. This baby was going to be born out of love, he thought.

"Um, so I was wondering how are we going to do this? We do live in two different cities on the opposite ends of the country," she said. "I can't expect you to drop everything and rush across to Boston to impregnate me."

"Well, when are you ovulating?" he asked.

"In a couple of days," she said. "This weekend."

"Well, that works out fine," he said. "I will fly in on Friday night and we can start trying, immediately. I will stay the entire weekend and fly back on Sunday night."

"But this is the thing. It may not happen on the first try. What happens to the successive times? You can't just drop off everything that you are doing and fly to the other side of the country, whenever I am ovulating," she said. He knew she was right.

"We will figure it out," he said. "Maybe we will get lucky on the first try. Maybe I have super sperm." She laughed. "Let's just get through this and then we will talk, when I come," he told her.

"When you come? Ha, ha," she chuckled. He laughed, too, realizing that "coming" had two meanings in their particular situation.

"Anyway, it is getting late. So I got to go. Um, are you going to stay with me, when you get here? Or staying at a hotel?" she asked.

"I was hoping that I would stay with you," he said.

"That's fine, it would make things a lot easier," she said. "So I will expect you here in a couple of days."

"Yes," he said.

* * *

On Friday night, he left work and immediately hopped on a plane to Boston. It warmed his heart, when he saw her waiting for him.

"Hey," he greeted her, grinning from ear to ear. She gave him a hug. He held her tightly. He wanted to kiss her but he wasn't sure, so he decided to ask. "Can I kiss you?"

"Yes," she said, looking up at him. He took her face in his hands and gave her the softest of kisses. He looked into her eyes before kissing her again. This time, it was more intense, as their lips were crushed against each other's, while their tongues tangled together in a mating dance. He ran his fingers through her hair, as he always used to do, whenever he kissed her. He didn't care if people were looking at them, even though their white-hot passion for each other was evident. Their bodies were already starting to respond to each other's. When they finally broke away from the kiss, she looked up at him with shining eyes. "I think we should go home or we are going to end up having sex, right here," she said. "I think I want you now."

"Yes, let's do this," he agreed. "I want to be with you, so badly." They put their arms around each other, as they walked together to the parking lot.

* * *

**A/N: Please leave your reviews. Thank you for taking the time to leave your thoughts.**


	7. Chapter 7 A Weekend Together

**A/N: This chapter has mature content.**

* * *

When they got to her apartment, she asked if he wanted something to eat. "Is that a loaded question there?" he grinned. She rolled her eyes. "I am really asking if you wanted anything to eat because we can order something to be delivered."

"Well, I ate on the plane, so I am not hungry for food but I am hungry for something else," he told her with a grin. She chuckled. "Before you indulge, I would just like to say since I came straight from the hospital to pick you up at the airport, I need to take a shower. So you can make yourself comfortable or you could unpack your things. I cleared a drawer for you." She disappeared into her bedroom.

Owen looked around at the apartment. It was a lovely apartment and quite clean, too. That probably meant that Cristina had a cleaning lady. With her schedule and her tendency to be messy, that was the only explanation on why it could be so tidy. He went into the bedroom. Cristina was already in the shower because he could hear the water running in the bathroom. There was a chest of drawers in the room and he opened the top drawer. It was empty so that was probably the drawer she had put aside for him. He liked that he had his own drawer. He opened his carry-on suitcase and unpacked his clothes. He really didn't bring much, just a pair of jeans, t-shirts, pjs and underwear. He figured that they would be spending most of the weekend indoors, anyway.

He kicked off his shoes, took off his tie and jacket and placed them on a chair. He went and lay on the bed, waiting for her to return. He couldn't quite believe he was here. A little more than a month ago, they had met once again at the Harvard Medical School reunion. He was so glad that he decided to attend. If he hadn't, he would not have reconnected with her once again and he probably would have been still engaged to Vanessa. His life had changed so much, since then. Here he was, back with the woman he always loved. Well, if he was being honest with himself, they weren't really back together as a couple. They were trying to make a baby, together. He hoped that the journey together would push them in the direction of becoming a couple and eventually with the baby, a family once again.

His thoughts were interrupted when Cristina emerged from the bathroom in a big, fluffy white robe. "Ah that was so good," she said. "Washing off all of my troubles of the day." She gave him a smile, which made him weak. "If you want to freshen up," she said. "There are fresh towels for you plus I got you your own fluffy white robe and a toothbrush."

"Yes, I would love to have a shower. Not easy leaving work and then, directly jumping on a cross-country flight," he said, as he got up from the bed. As he passed her, he stopped to kiss her. Her mouth tasted minty and clean. "Minty fresh," he said, as he went into the bathroom. He stripped off his clothes and entered the shower. The warm water felt good on his tired muscles. He was tired but the thought of her waiting for him in the bed, energized him. As he toweled off and picked up the robe, he was rather amused to see that the big, white, fluffy robe had his initials monogrammed to the front. He wrapped himself in the robe, before he brushed his teeth. "Minty fresh," he said, again.

He returned to the bedroom to find Cristina snuggled under the covers. She seemed to be naked under there because he could see her smooth, bare shoulders and the top half of her back peeking out from underneath the covers. He took off the robe and crawled in next to her. He pulled down the covers to expose the pale, flawless skin of her back. He started from the top and kissed the entire length of her back. She giggled as she felt her lips on her skin. "That tickles," she said, turning around to face him.

"Thanks for the robe," he said. "The monogram was an extra nice touch."

"You're welcome," she said. "Now kiss me." He smiled, as he whispered, "Your wish is my command." Their lips met and then their tongues. He found himself climbing on top of her, as their kisses became even more ardent. "I have missed you so much," he whispered between kisses. "Me, too," she answered. She could feel herself body responding as the space between her legs was becoming wetter and wetter. She could also feel Owen's member hardening against her. She reached down and stroked it to its ultimate stiffness and she directed him to enter her.

Maybe it was how much their bodies missed each other that there was so little foreplay but she knew that she wanted him, now. There was time for foreplay, later but she wanted to feel him inside of her, at that very moment. As he entered her, she gasped. There was no other man who could make her feel this way. Their bodies moved together in rhythm like if they had never been apart. In the six years they were separated, Owen had been with other women but there was only one woman, who made him feel like they were a single being, when they made love. It was as if his body was made for her and her alone. As her walls pressed tighter against him, he could feel himself ready to explode with her. He wanted her to come before he did, so he increased the rhythm of his thrusts, pounding into her as he willed her to climax. Only when she screamed with pleasure, did he allow himself to come, filling her with his life-creating semen. As he eased himself out of her, she grabbed a pillow and placed it under her hips. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I am just elevating my hips. I heard it helps," she said. "Can't hurt to try it."

"I guess we should try everything. We are going to be older parents, so the odds are against us a bit," he said. He lay back on his side of the bed. He realized he was on the same side of the bed that he had always slept in, when they were together. He stared at her profile and knew how much he loved her.

"Was it good?" he asked. She looked at him, a little puzzled. "Why do you ask?"

"I know it was about the baby-making process but I want to know that you enjoyed it, too. It is not just about the mechanics of it all," he said.

"Owen Hunt, there is no one else who makes me feel the way you do. So yes, it was good. In fact, it was great. To be honest, I am looking forward to much more this weekend," she said.

He reached over and kissed her again. As he kissed, he rested his head next to hers and closed his eyes. He was more tired than he had thought because he drifted off to sleep. Cristina looked at his sleeping face, examining every angle of his face. She loved this face with its lines and the scar on the bridge of his nose. Somehow, it made him seem much more manlier than the McSteamys and the McDreamys of the world. She caressed his cheek. He opened his eyes. "It's okay, Owen, you go to sleep," she said. Soon after, she too fell asleep.

* * *

He awoke first the next morning in the same position as he was, when he fell asleep. Cristina's face was right next to him. He stared at her; her face was smooth and unlined. He took his fingers and traced the outline of her lips. She stirred a bit but did not wake up. He got up, pulled on his robe and went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He looked at himself in the mirror. He could already see the difference in himself. It seemed like if years had been lifted from his countenance.

He decided that maybe he would make her breakfast. He went to the kitchen and shook his head, as he looked into a decidedly very empty fridge. All she had in there were a bottle of vodka and a carton of milk. He knew the milk was for the cereal she would undoubtedly have in the cupboard. He opened the cupboard to find five different boxes of cereal. He grinned when he saw them. She had not changed her eating habits over the years. This would not do, he thought. Their first morning back together deserved something better than cold cereal and milk.

He went back to the bedroom and quietly changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He was going to get them something hot. He picked up her car keys which were on the dining table. He drove to the nearest breakfast shop, where he picked up hot, warm buttery croissants filled with ham and eggs and some bagels and cream cheese, along with two cups of hot, steaming coffee. He got back to the apartment, placed everything on the dining table and went back into the bedroom to wake her up.

"Cristina, wake up, I have breakfast," he said and kissed her on her forehead. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Morning, Owen."

"Morning, lovely lady," he said. She stretched and then she realized she was still naked from last night. "Hand me my robe, please," she said. He gave it her and watched as she got up and tied it on. "I will be out in a minute, as soon as I brush my teeth and wash the sleepiness off my face," she said. He went back out to the main living area and waited for her. She returned, looking definitely much more alive.

She sat down at the table, opened a bag and pulled out a croissant. "Oh, this is just wonderful, Owen," she said. "I usually have cereal in the morning before I go to the hospital. Nice to have something warm for a change." She sipped at her coffee.

"I realized that," he said. "I was going to cook you breakfast and found that all you had in your refrigerator was vodka and milk."

"Both vital to my existence," she said. "Milk for my cereal and vodka for those hard days to unwind after work."

"I was always under the impression that you were more of a tequila girl," he said. "Was I wrong?"

"That was more Meredith. That girl loved a bottle of tequila. We used to be swigging tequila at parties at Meredith's house. Personally, I prefer vodka, though," she said. He also ate a croissant and watched her as she polished off her own. She dug into the next bag and pulled out a bagel and started munching.

"So what are we going to do today?" he asked.

"Besides copious amounts of sex? I thought that was all we were going to do for the weekend," she teased him.

"Well, we do have to eat," he said. "And there is nothing in the fridge."

"A usual occurrence for me. Don't worry about it. We will just order in," she said. As she finished off her bagel and drained her coffee cup, she gave him a mischievous look. "Owen Hunt, would you be interested in taking a shower with me?" she asked.

"A shower?" he asked. "Will there be more activities other than getting clean?"

"Naturally," she said. "And you can wash my hair. You always loved to wash my hair."

"That I did," he said. "Lead the way, milady." So, in addition to getting clean, he washed her hair and they had a little bit of morning sex to start the day. Their weekend together was not just about sex, as it turned out. They had deep conversations, great food and bonding time, together. When Sunday evening came, she dropped him off at the airport and escorted him to the security line.

"If we are lucky, it happened this weekend," she said. "I hope it happened. I want to get this started plus I don't want you messing up your schedule to accommodate my ovulation cycles."

"I wouldn't mind, though. I enjoyed this weekend, very much," he said. "It was like old times." He took her in his arms and hugged her. "I don't really want to go."

She looked up at him. "Can I kiss you?" He laughed, "You don't even have to ask." She reached up and took his face into her small hands. Their lips met, so did their tongues. But it was a gentler kiss than the one they had, when he arrived on Friday night.

"You gotta go," she said. "I know," he replied. "I will call you, as soon as I land." He picked up his carry-on and headed to the back of the line. He handed the guard his ID and his boarding pass for her to check. Cristina waited until she could see him no more. Before he went in, he looked back and blew her a kiss. She waved at him before turning and leaving. Already, her heart ached for him.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments. Thanks for leaving your reviews.**


	8. Chapter 8 A Trip to Seattle

**A/N: This chapter has some mature content.**

* * *

Cristina looked at the test results of her blood test. She was not pregnant. She sighed. She was disappointed but she didn't cry like she did when the artificial insemination failed. She knew it was because she was no longer alone in this venture. She was doing with someone else, who was sharing the same hopes and dreams for having a child.

She called Owen. "Hey, stranger," he answered. "What's the news?"

"Not good. We are still not pregnant," she said. "You know what that means."

"Yup," he answered. "We try again and I know we both enjoying the whole process of trying." She laughed. "Yes, I enjoy it, Owen. Very much so," she replied. "But we have to get a positive result some time soon. I am not getting any younger."

"So do you know when your ovulation period is? So I will know to make flight arrangements," he said. "I am looking forward to seeing you."

"Uh, don't worry about that," she said. He was surprised. What did she mean by that?

"Cristina, we have to keep trying," he said. "How can we keep trying if we aren't together?"

"Oh, we will be together," she responded. "I thought that I couldn't keep asking you to come to Boston, all of the time. So I decided to come to Seattle instead for a visit. I have a couple of days off, so I thought I would come on Wednesday evening and leave on Sunday evening during that time."

"That is just wonderful," he said. "That would be so great. You will be staying at the firehouse with me, right?" He was overjoyed but he tempered it down, so she wouldn't know how much.

"Yes, if you will have me," she said, teasingly.

"Of course, I will have you," he said. "It will be great to have you in the firehouse. It will be like old times. Plus I will clear a space for you in the closet."

"I have missed the old place," she said. "Especially the huge bay window behind our bed. Always liked the light coming through in the morning to wake me up because otherwise, I wouldn't get up."

"The bay window is still there and the light does wake me up, every morning. So you'll be here, soon. I am excited and I think everyone at the hospital will be happy to see you. Did you tell Meredith that you're coming to Seattle?" he said.

"No, I think I will let it be a surprise," she said. "Only you will know." He laughed. "That kind of makes me feel special," he admitted.

"You are special," she said. "You are going to be my baby's daddy." It was indescribable how much love he felt for her in that moment. "Thank you," he said, softly.

"Okay," she replied. "Are you going to pick me up at the airport when I get there?"

"Yes, I will," he said. "You came to pick me up, so I think that it is only fair I do the same." They said their goodbyes, each feeling really upbeat about everything.

* * *

However, the best laid plans sometimes don't come to pass because on the day that Cristina was supposed to arrive in Seattle, there was a multi-vehicle car crash with many victims and it was going to be all hands on deck. Owen found himself in two surgeries, back to back. He kept looking at the time and hoping he could finish in time to pick up Cristina at the airport. The reality that he was not going to make it dawned on him. He called out to one of the assistant nurses in the room, "Fowler, can you pick up my phone and look for the name Cristina Yang. When you get it, text a message to her that I am stuck in surgery and if she could get a taxi and come straight to the hospital."

"Will do, Chief," Nurse Fowler said. Fowler didn't know who Cristina was, since she had joined Seattle Grace less than four years ago. She busily texted the message.

"Cristina Yang?" Dr. Shane Ross, a surgical fellow working with Owen, asked. "The Cristina Yang? From Mass Gen? I remember her recovering after the plane crash, here. She threw a vase at me. I will never forget that. She is absolutely brilliant. Have you read her latest piece in the New England Journal of Medicine?"

"Yes, I have read it. It was an amazing piece," Owen said, proudly. He had always known she was brilliant from the time he met her when she was a second-year resident. There had been no one else quite like her. Her skill levels were so far advanced that of any other resident.

"So she's coming back?" Shane asked. "I would greatly like to work with her, if possible."

"No, she is not coming to work. She is coming for a visit," Owen said. "Personal time."

"Oh," Shane said. He could tell from Owen's voice that she was coming to spend the time with him. Ross vaguely remembered that the Chief had been married to Dr. Yang before she left. Maybe they were rekindling the fires, he thought. Shane hoped that was the case because if they got back together, then she would likely move back to Seattle and he would get a chance to work with her. Silently, Ross wished his boss good luck.

* * *

When Owen finally got out of surgery, he took a quick shower and began to look for her. She was sitting in the lobby, waiting for him. Seated next to her was Jackson Avery, a senior attending in plastics. They seemed to be having an animated conversation peppered with raucous laughter in between.

"Oh, Dr. Hunt," Avery said. "I was just telling Cristina here how good it is to see her. We were just reminiscing on some of the things we did in the good old days when we were residents."

"Yeah, Jackson and I were just having some fun," Cristina said. Jackson laughed, "Well, I guess I better take my leave. How long are you staying, Cristina?"

"I will be here until Sunday evening," she told him.

"Great," Jackson replied. "If you have the time, maybe you, me, April, Alex and Meredith can go out one night for old times' sake."

"I would like that," Cristina said. "See you, Jackson." Jackson walked away and headed down the corridor.

"Hmm, really? Making plans without me," he said. "I thought you came to see me." He took her in his arms and gave her a kiss.

"Chief, should you be indulging in public displays of affection in the middle of your lobby?" she asked, when they finally stopped their lengthy kissing.

"Oh, I don't care," he said. "Let them talk. The Chief needs a personal life, too. Come on." He started to gently guide her down the corridor.

"Where are we going?" she asked. "Are we going to meet someone or are you going to show me some of your research?"

"My research?" he scoffed. "That is the furthest thing from my mind, right now." He stopped in front of an on-call room.

"You're kidding?" she said and observed the wicked expression on his face. "Oh, you're not kidding." He opened the door and checked inside to see whether it was empty. "Ah," he said. "It seems that the coast is indeed clear. Come in, my dear." Cristina stepped into the on-call room. She had a bunch of memories in that particular on-call room.

"Isn't this the on-call room where we were doing it and Webber was on the top bunk and his pager went off and we thought it was one of ours?" she asked.

"Yes, it was," Owen said. He started to laugh. "Well Webber retired, so he won't be here to bother us, anymore." He started to kiss her and their nimble fingers began undressing each other. Soon, they were bare and under the covers of the bottom bunk. She giggled, "I haven't done this since I was a resident. I am reliving my youth." He was too busy, kissing her all over her body. As he went down on her, she closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of his skilful tongue in her. She ran her fingers through his hair. "God, you are a good lover," she said, as she panted. She pulled him up and kissed him, again. She could taste herself on his lips. "I want you in me, now," she demanded. With a wicked grin, he entered her and it was not slow or gentle, as he pounded into her with ferocity. "Oh, God," she screamed, as she grabbed his buttocks to push more inside of her. It was only a month since they had last seen each other but she had missed him tremendously and the feel of his body inside of her.

"Keep it down, baby," he whispered. "There are still people, working out there." But Cristina was already too far gone. She screamed, again as she came over and over again. Owen himself could not stop himself from gasping out loud, when he finally came.

Their heavy breathing had not stopped when the door suddenly burst open and a short, stocky figure was at the door. "Who the hell is in here?" the person said. "Is that you, MacArthur and your girlfriend, Lipnicki in here? Haven't you learned anything since the last time I caught you in here? You interns are so horny. The noises emanating from this room are so loud – I could hear that from the end of the corridor. You people need to keep it down or do this at home in your own time. How hard is it, Lipnicki, to keep your knees closed for one shift?"

"Oh my God," Cristina whispered. "Is that Bailey?" She had recognized the voice of her resident supervisor. Even though Cristina was now world famous and "the Cristina Yang," hearing Bailey's voice reprimanding her made her feel like she was an intern, once again.

Bailey turned on the light and was more than surprised to see that she had caught Chief Hunt in a compromising position with an unidentified female. "Chief Hunt!" Bailey said in a judgmental tone. She was shaking her head.

"Um, hello, Bailey, would you mind closing the door?" Owen asked. Bailey took a closer look at the female who was currently under Chief Hunt. Even though Owen was trying to shield Cristina as much as possible, it was impossible not to recognize that head of thick, dark curls.

"Cristina Yang," Bailey said. "Is that you?" Cristina reluctantly turned her head to face Dr. Bailey. "Hi, Dr. Bailey," she said, sheepishly.

"Chief Hunt, before I leave, I just wanted to say that this is a poor example for the interns and residents, even if you are doing it with your wife," Bailey said, as she closed the door. Owen and Cristina both started laughing, hysterically.

"Oh, my God, she is like a junior Webber," Cristina said, giggling. Owen concurred. "At least she had the good timing to come in when we were done. Imagine if she had caught us in the middle of it." While they were laughing, they had both caught that Bailey had referred to Cristina as Owen's wife and not his ex-wife. Neither of them was ready to talk about that, right now.

"I think we should get dressed and go home," Cristina said, as Owen rolled off of her. He liked that she described the firehouse as home. "We are really too old to be doing it in the on-call room like residents," she added.

They both began putting their clothes back on, when there was a knock on the door. "Please don't tell me that Bailey is back to scold us," Cristina said. She hurriedly got dressed.

"Who is it?" Owen said, pulling on back his scrub top and then his lab coat.

"It's me, Meredith," the voice said. "Bailey said Cristina was in here. Is she?"

"Yes," Cristina said, opening the door. "Meredith!" The two friends hugged, tightly. It had been a while, since either of them had seen each other. Meredith found it hard to get away from her job and her family and Cristina was often too busy to travel. So they never saw each other, as much as they liked.

"Oh, it is so good to see you," Meredith said. When they released each other, Meredith had a knowing grin about what had gone down in the on-call room. "So, I see things are going well."

Cristina nodded and said, "As well as can be expected."

"So how long are you going to be here?" Meredith asked. "Will we have time to go to dinner, even though I know you are probably busy with other activities?" She grinned, when she said "activities."

"I am here till Sunday evening. I am sure we can grab lunch or something. I saw Jackson earlier and he was wondering if all five of us can do something together. Maybe we can go to Joe's after your shift, like the old days. But not tonight," Cristina said. "It has been a long trip and I need to go take a rest at the firehouse." She kissed her friend on the cheek. "Tomorrow, I promise." She turned to her former husband, "Owen, ready to go home?"

She said it again – that word "home." "Yes," he answered. "I am ready."

* * *

**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thanks for being kind enough to leave your reviews.**


	9. Chapter 9 Accidents and surgeries

**A/N: Some mature content**

* * *

The early morning light was streaming in from the bay window, stirring Cristina from her sleep. She opened her eyes and was startled for a moment before she realized she was in her old bed at the firehouse. Owen was next to her, gazing at her with his bright, blue eyes.

"Have you been looking at me, while I sleep?" she said.

"Yup," he said. "For maybe, the past 10 minutes. I just wanted to make sure that it was true that you are back in my bed." He reached out and pulled her close, kissing her on her bare shoulder.

"Well, staring at me makes me a little self-conscious, especially if I have been drooling," she said. "Plus it is a little creepy."

"No, it can't be creepy, when we are both naked in the same bed, after enjoying each other's company for the night," he said. She snuggled against him. "I guess not. So are you going to work, in a bit?" she asked.

"Yes, I am," he said. "Not that I want to. I just want to stay in bed with you all day. So what are you going to do, today?"

"I thought I would come in to the hospital, a little later," she said. "Maybe have lunch with the gang and talk about old times."

"Okay, good," he said. "I guess I will see you, too." He kissed her on the nose, as he got up and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. When he emerged, she watched him dress from the bed.

"So what are you going to do for breakfast? I am going to grab something from the coffee cart at the hospital," he told her.

"I am going to take a walk to the Starbucks down the street," she said. "Is it still there?"

"Yeah," he said. "So I will see you in a bit, okay?" She nodded and put out her arms for a hug. He smiled and came back and took her in his arms. They rocked for a bit, before he released her and kissed her on her forehead. "See you later."

When he left, Cristina finally got out of bed and went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth. This bathroom had been witness to many of the pivotal moments in their life. It was here that he had comforted her, when they both got food poisoning from the bad spring rolls. It was also here that she finally spoke after the plane crash, when he was giving her a bath. It was also here that she cried and he broke down the door, the day he finally told her about his one-night stand with the nameless girl from the bar. She cringed when she remembered that. Still, that was years ago and a lot of water had passed under the bridge, since then.

She took a quick shower, changed her clothes and headed down to the neighborhood Starbucks, where she grabbed herself her favorite coffee and a sandwich and started reading a newspaper someone had left behind. She had just finished her sandwich and drained her cup of coffee, when a car suddenly careened into the Starbucks window. Cristina jumped out of the way but the young man, at the next table, was not so lucky as the car hit him and tossed him to the side. The Starbucks counter finally stopped the car in its tracks.

"Oh, God, oh, God," the woman driver said. "I just lost my brakes and it was impossible to stop. I am so sorry."

"Are you alright?" Cristina asked, noticing a trickle of blood from a cut on the woman's forehead.

"Yes, yes, I am fine, just look after the young man," she said. "I am so, so sorry." Cristina examined the young man, who was on the floor of the Starbucks. "Call 911," she screamed to a barista, who seemed to be in shock from the incident. She read his name tag. "Snap out of it, Joey," she yelled at him. "Call 911." Joey took out his phone and immediately called the emergency number.

Cristina began checking all of the accident victim's vitals. He had a pulse but it was weak and his breathing was quite shallow, indicating that he might have a lung problem. "Ma'am, do you know what you are doing?" Joey asked her. "I just called 911."

"Yes," she said. "I am a doctor."

* * *

Twenty minutes later found Cristina at the emergency room of Seattle Grace Mercy West with the accident victim, as the paramedics wheeled him in through the ER doors. "April, April," she said. "Car crash victim." She then rattled off all of the issues that the accident victim was facing.

April was definitely surprised to see Cristina. Her husband, Jackson, had already told her that Cristina was back in Seattle for a visit but she hardly expected to see Cristina in action.

"Cristina, what happened?" April asked, as she checked the victim.

"I was just having breakfast in Starbucks and then this car just came through the store. I was lucky I wasn't the victim," she said. "Poor guy, he got the full brunt of it. I think he needs immediate surgery, April."

"Yup, straight up to the OR," April said. "Do you want to scrub in?" Cristina looked at her. "I don't have privileges, here," she reminded April.

"I will just call Hunt and let him know," April said. "Who wouldn't want the great Cristina Yang operating on him? Plus I know you. You started this and you would want to see this through."

"You know me well, April. Thank you," she said, gratefully.

"Get this patient to OR 1 and get Dr Yang some scrubs, please," April shouted. "Dr. Fieldstone and Dr. Lawrence, you can assist Dr. Yang with the trauma injuries." The two ER doctors were thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Dr. Yang. They could not believe their luck.

Owen had got the call from April about Cristina wanting surgical privileges so she could operate on an accident victim that she had brought in. It could only be Cristina who would be in Seattle for less than a day and find herself in the operating room.

He stood in the gallery, watching her operate. There was a large contingent of residents and interns there. They had heard that "the Cristina Yang" was there, operating in OR 1. They were as enthralled as he was as they watched her skilful hands do what they did best. He listened to their compliments and he was so proud of her.

* * *

After the surgery, Cristina found herself at the cafeteria and saw her friends at a table. "Hey," she said.

"Well, look at that," Alex said. "Cristina Yang, in navy attending scrubs. It's like she never left here."

"Oh, Alex," Cristina said. "Good to see you, too." She slapped him on the back.

"So have you missed us?" Meredith said. "I mean we know you are the hotshot Cristina Yang, queen of the cardio world but surely you have missed us."

"Yes, I have missed you a lot. I don't have friends like you back in Massachusetts, even though Jackson's granddad is a hoot," she said.

"How is the old guy?" Jackson asked. "I haven't seen him since Christmas, when April and I and the kids went east to see him."

"Doing well, and getting more crotchety every day," Cristina said. "Since I have won two of his awards, now, he says I am planning to take his job."

"Ever think of coming back here?" April asked. "I mean we could use Cristina Yang here. By the way, I heard that Dr Russell is thinking of making a move to New Orleans. His wife wants to move back to be near her family."

"Dr Russell? The head of cardio?" Cristina asked, interestedly.

"Yes, I heard him in the elevator," April said. "I mean it is not official but I think he wants to move, so who knows, there may be a job opening in a couple of months."

"Oh, so it is not definite," Cristina replied. "We will just have to wait and see."

"Would you make the move if there was an opening?" Meredith asked. "I miss you all the time, Cristina."

"Possibly, maybe," Cristina said, looking across at another table where Owen was having lunch with Derek and Callie. He caught her looking at him and he gave her a huge smile. Meredith noticed Cristina looking across at Owen and his smile back. It seemed that things were working out between her friend and her former husband. That was good, Meredith thought. She desperately wanted her friend to come back to Seattle.

After the lunch break was over, her four friends left, while Cristina sat there, alone, finishing off the last of her chicken salad. She was contemplating what to do for the rest of the afternoon when Owen came over and sat next to her. He gave her a light kiss on the lips. "So you had a very exciting morning," he said. "I saw you operating. All of the residents and interns were in awe of you."

"Yeah, it was just pure chance that I was there when the car came through the Starbucks and hit that poor guy," she said. "I was lucky that it didn't hit me."

"What?" he said, becoming concerned. "Oh, it is okay, Owen, I am fine," she told him.

"I really don't want anything happening to you," he said. "It would break me, after having just found you, again."

"Okay," she said, gently touching his face. "I guess you're going back to work."

"Yeah," he said. "What are you going to do for the rest of the day? I won't be off, till later."

"Maybe I can go to the ER and troll for cases," she said. "After all, I got surgical privileges, today. The Chief can vouch for me." He laughed. "The Chief can certainly vouch for you," he replied.

She did go back to the ER, where April rewarded her with another surgery. For her second surgery, word had spread around the hospital and there were even more residents and interns there in the gallery. Owen watched their rapt, young faces and he knew that if he could get Cristina to come back to Seattle, it would be one of the greatest hiring coups ever. However, he knew that she would only come back if she was head of cardio and he couldn't offer her that, since Dr Russell was already in place. Plus they would have to shell out the big bucks to lure her to Seattle. He sighed.

* * *

Later that evening, she told him that she was going to have a drink with the old gang at Joe's. She said she wanted to see Joe and Walter and find out how their twins were doing. He asked if she wanted him to wait for her but she said that Meredith would drop her off. So she went across the street and went off to join Alex, April, Jackson and Meredith at Joe's. Joe was there and he showed her pictures of his twins, who were in middle school. He said he and Walter were doing quite well.

After a couple of drinks, conversation and laughter, Meredith dropped off Cristina at the firehouse. When she got to the top of the stairs, she saw Owen was already under the covers and fast asleep. She took a shower, brushed her teeth and slid in naked under the covers next to him. She started kissing him all over his face and neck, gently rousing him from his sleep.

"So you're back," he whispered. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes," she replied, as she slipped off his t-shirt over his head. "Do you want something, Cristina?" he chuckled, as she went under the covers, slid off his pj bottoms and slipped his member into her mouth. It didn't take her long to her talented mouth to get him to a fully erect state. "Damn, you're good," he said, as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Let's see how good I am," she said, as she positioned herself over him and allowed him to enter her. He held on to her slim waist, as she rode him better than a champion cowboy at a rodeo. "Damn, you're good," he said, as she rode him hard. He pushed up his body to meet hers, so that he could go deeper inside of her. When they mutually came, she screamed in pleasure. Then she lay forward and rested herself on his chest, with him still inside of her.

"At least here, you could scream as loudly as you want, without Bailey coming in and scolding us," he said, laughing.

"Do you know that sometimes, Bailey still makes me feel like an intern?" she admitted. "It is like I never grew up."

"Well, you know, Bailey is an institution here. She has been scaring interns, since she was a fourth year resident, with you guys," he said, with a chuckle. "By the way, all of the interns and residents couldn't stop talking about you, even after you were finished with your surgeries. It would be good if you could come and teach them a thing or two." He threw it out there. He didn't know what kind of reception he would get to the idea. It wasn't like he could offer her a job, since Russell was still holding the position.

"Yeah, I would like that," she said. He kissed her on the top of her head. If she wanted to teach, that means she would make a lot more trips to Seattle. That would certainly help the progress of their relationship, beyond being parents of this child. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your reviews and comments. I appreciate it very much when you take the time to do so.**


	10. Chapter 10 Face to Face

Owen woke up the next morning to find Cristina's head on his chest. He needed to get to work but he did not want to rudely awaken her. He rubbed her bare back with his hand, marveling at how silky smooth it was. He got his desired result, as she stirred and then, stretched.

"Ah, you are up," he said, as she raised her head from off his chest and flopped down on to her pillow.

"Yes," she said. "Good morning, Owen Hunt." She gave him a little smile.

"Good morning, Cristina Yang. As much as I would like to stay with you, I have to go to work, but I promise the weekend will only be about you," he said, giving her kiss on the forehead. He rose from the bed and headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower before work.

He was busy lathering up, when he heard the door open and his small bedmate stepped in. "I need to take a shower, too," she said. He grinned at her, as he slathered the body wash all over her body, before using the bath sponge all over her.

"So I like you in here with me, but why do you need to take a shower, now?" he said. "You have lots of time to take a shower after I leave."

"Because I am going to work with you," she said. "I have surgical privileges so I might as well use them. I will be with April in the ER today. It makes no sense for me to just sit at home, all day, waiting for you to come back."

"Okay, that's fine," he said, as they kissed again. "Let's get a little more out of this." He claimed her lips before pushing her against the wall and allowed her to wrap her legs around him.

* * *

An hour and a half later, after grabbing a quick breakfast on the go, they were at Seattle Grace. Cristina was already in navy scrubs when she showed up in the pit. "April, I am here, reporting for duty," she said. April yawned. "Thanks, Cristina, I could use an extra pair of hands that I can count on. I am so tired."

"What? You and Jackson were up all night, knocking boots," Cristina said, with a twinkle. She always liked to tease April. "Oh, I wish," April replied. "Tyler, my boy, couldn't sleep at all and he kept us up. Thankfully, Tegan, the girl, slept right though." April and Jackson's children were two-year-old twins.

"So how is it with twins?" Cristina asked, a bit curious.

"Double the work," April admitted. "But personally, I am glad we had twins. Only one pregnancy necessary. Plus they will each have a companion throughout their school life. At least, they will know one other person in their class, so it won't be that scary. I love them so much, Cristina. They are the best thing I have ever done with my life." Cristina smiled and patted her friend on the back. Their quiet moment was broken when the emergency doors burst open with Nicole, the paramedic, wheeling in an accident victim.

"Troy Collins, age 17, was riding his bicycle, when he was hit by a car," Nicole said. Cristina and April sprung into action. The teenager was in bad shape and definitely needed surgery. "Are his parents here?" April yelled.

"Yes, yes," a pretty woman in her forties with chestnut brown hair came forward. She was accompanied by two teenage girls who had the same brown hair. All three of them were crying.

"Your son is badly hurt and will need surgery, immediately. I need you to sign the papers," April said.

"Is Owen Hunt here?" the woman asked. "The Chief of Surgery. Can you tell him that Troy is here? Please. Tell him that Troy needs him now." Cristina looked up from examining Troy. She wondered who this woman was.

"I will," April said. She ordered a nurse to inform Dr. Hunt that Troy Collins was in the ER and needed surgery.

"I think he needs to go to surgery, now," Cristina said. "He has a penetrating chest wound. So we can't wait for Dr. Hunt." The woman looked at Cristina and the look of astonishment on her face was evident.

"It's you!" she screamed at Cristina. "He couldn't wait to get rid of me fast enough, so he could bring you here. Don't touch Troy!" Cristina did not have a clue who this woman was and why was she screaming at her. Everyone was looking at Cristina, when Owen came rushing into the ER.

"Vanessa," he said. "Where is Troy?" He took a quick survey of Troy's condition and read the paramedic notes. "He needs surgery, now. Why are we waiting around?" Cristina knew exactly who the woman was. She was Owen's former fiancée and the teenagers were all her children.

Cristina stepped back. "She doesn't want me operating on him." April and two other doctors took off to the OR with the patient.

"You brought her here, as soon as you were done with the kids and me," Vanessa screamed at Owen. He tried to calm her down but she was too distraught.

"Vanessa," he said. "I know you don't want to hear this but Troy's best chances of survival will be if Cristina operates on him. She is one of the best in the world." Vanessa collapsed in Owen's arms, weeping. Cristina started to walk away. He watched her with apologetic eyes.

She went off into an exam room and sat, quietly. It was now clear that Owen had broken off his engagement because of her. He knew that she would not agree to the whole baby-making plan, if he was still engaged to another woman. Her thoughts were interrupted when Owen opened the door. "Go to the OR and work on Troy, please. You are his best chance of survival," he told her.

"But she said that I wasn't to touch him," Cristina answered.

"I know but I got her to change her mind," he said. As Cristina headed to go to the OR, she turned around and gave him an intense look, "We need to talk." He nodded. "Yes, we do."

* * *

Cristina and April worked together for four hours on Troy. It was touch and go in there for a while and he coded twice but they brought him back. When they were through, April told Cristina that she would go and have the after-surgery chat with the family. Cristina was grateful. She really didn't want to have to face Vanessa and all of her accusations and hurt feelings

April came back, five minutes later and said, "Mrs. Collins wants to see you." She gave Cristina a sympathetic look as she left to go to the waiting room. Cristina sighed before she entered the room. "Mrs. Collins," she called out.

"Dr. Kepner said that you were very instrumental in keeping my boy alive," Vanessa said. "I want to thank you."

"No problem, Mrs. Collins," Cristina said. "Your boy is a fighter. I am glad that he is going to make it." Then, Vanessa did something very unexpectedly. She gave Cristina a hug and said, "Thank you, thank you." As Cristina walked away, she was relieved that it hadn't been so bad. She was a little tired, so she went into one of the on-call rooms to rest. She closed her eyes and fell asleep. She was probably asleep for about 20 minutes, when someone got in next to her. She knew it could only be Owen, so she turned to hug him, her eyes still closed.

"An eventful day," she heard him say. "Yes," she answered.

"I know you have questions. Just ask away," he said. She opened her eyes and stared intently at his blue ones. "Vanessa – she said that you broke up with her and brought me here," she said. "Well, I know I am just visiting and you didn't really bring me here. But it seems to me that she thinks that you broke up with her because of me. Is that true?"

"Yes," he said. It was the truth. There was no need to lie about that.

"Was it because you wanted to have a baby with me and you knew that I wouldn't do it, if you were still engaged?" she asked. He blinked. "That is partly true. I did want to have a baby with you and I knew you wouldn't do it, otherwise."

He continued, "But that is not just the reason I did this. I not only wanted this baby with you but I also wanted you."

"Are you telling me that you love me?" she asked, her fingers intertwining with his.

"Didn't you already know that? I have loved you, always," he said. "When I saw you at the reunion in Boston, it was as if I wouldn't be able to breathe again, without you in my life, again. And when we kissed in my hotel room, I knew I would have made love to you, if you hadn't stopped it. It wasn't fair to Vanessa and her kids for me to go through with this marriage. Sure, life would have been okay because they are wonderful people but it would not have been right that I was in love with someone else. She deserved someone who would love her the way a husband should. She shouldn't have a husband who was pining for someone else."

She chuckled. "So you would have been pining for me?" He answered, "Every day of my life. So, what about you? Do you love me?"

"Hmmm," she started off, teasingly. "Do I love you? Well, you are quite nice looking, a great lover and kind and generous. You are great with animals and small children. You can make a delicious roast chicken. Those are your good points. Then, there is the fact that you sometimes forget to put down the toilet seat. That is one bad point."

"Cristina," he said. "Come on. You are killing me, here."

"See, your good points outweigh your bad points. So, if we weigh the pros and the cons, then we can only come to one conclusion. Yes, I love you," she said. "Why else would I agree to have a baby with you? You are a good man and will make a wonderful father." He reached over and captured her lips with his own. As their kiss deepened, he suddenly stopped. "If this is going where I think it is going," he said. "There is something I have to do." He got up and locked the door. "I am not prepared to have Bailey come in and scold me again. And you are right; there is something about that woman that makes you feel like you are 12 years old when you've done something wrong. So let us get back to what we were doing without having to worry about someone bursting in here on us." She giggled.

* * *

After their steamy hot sexual rendezvous in the on-call room, Cristina and Owen emerged with their clothes askew and their hair more mussed up than when they went in. Owen hurriedly went about doing his chiefly duties and disappeared down the corridor, when Cristina bumped into Meredith, who gave her this rather smug smile.

"So the process of baby-making is going well, I see," Meredith said. "Your hair seems very messy. So you have been doing it like the interns."

"Um, when you know that you have to take every opportunity you can get," Cristina said. "Oh, come on, don't judge me. I already have had two failures, so every opportunity counts."

"I am not judging you, Cristina. You just seem to be enjoying yourself, quite a bit," Meredith chuckled.

"Well, that is the best part of the baby-making process; you do get to enjoy yourself a lot," Cristina agreed. "I am going to see a patient, now." She wanted to check on Troy. She could see that his family was there. She steeled herself before she entered the room. She could feel three pairs of eyes boring into her.

"Just coming to check on him to see how he was doing," she said, checking Troy's chart. Troy was still asleep and appeared to be doing well.

"We know who you are," Sarah, the older girl said. "You are Owen's ex-wife." Cristina nodded. The girl continued, "While I don't agree with what Owen did to our mom, I just wanted to say that our family is eternally grateful to you."

"Yes, you gave us back our brother," the younger girl, Olivia, said. "Thank you very much."

"I am glad that Troy is doing well," Cristina said. "He has quite a bit of recovery ahead of him but he is a strong, young man and with your support, he will come through this, better than ever. Alright, I will leave you all alone, now. It was good to meet all of you."

She left the room, feeling a lot better than when she went in. Owen was right. They were a good family. Cristina hoped that their mother would find the kind of man who would love her the way that she knew that Owen loved her. She saw him at a nurses' station, writing on a chart. She came up behind him and put her arms around him and rested her head against his back.

"I'm glad you chose me," she said, softly. He reached back with his arms to hug her.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments and reviews. Thanks for being kind enough to leave your reviews. Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays!**


	11. Chapter 11 Good Things

It was a fabulous two days at the firehouse. They spent most of their time, making love. Cristina told Owen that she should not have bothered to put on clothes because he was only taking them off. For the most part, they were nude, except for when the various delivery guys came to bring them food. Who had time to cook when they were on this baby-making adventure? When he dropped her off at the airport on Sunday evening, he held her in his arms for a long time.

"I don't want to let you go," he said. "I want you to stay here with me, forever." He kissed her, right there, in the middle of the airport, just in front of the security line.

"I have to go, now," she whispered. "I don't want to leave you, either, but I have a job and responsibilities back in Boston."

"Will you call me when you get home?" he asked, with a wistful look.

"Yes," she said. "As soon as I get to my apartment." She released herself from his arms and joined the security line. He stayed until she went through the doors and he could no longer see her bouncy dark curls. He turned away, feeling so empty.

* * *

They spoke to each other, every night, talking about their day, their surgeries and all of the funny or unusual things that may have happened with each other. They talked for one or two hours or until one of them felt sleepy. That was usually Cristina, since there was a three hour time difference between Seattle and Boston. Their phone calls were their way of connecting with each other. He knew, too, of the day that she was going to get her blood test done to find out whether their last weekend of baby-making was successful. He was very excited. He knew Cristina was getting anxious about getting pregnant. As she put it, she was not a spring chicken and she wasn't getting any younger. Every time, they had a failure, it was going to get that much harder.

The day started ordinarily enough but then there was a gas explosion at a restaurant and he had to help out in the emergency room with the number of victims. It seemed to be never ending. He knew that Cristina was going to be calling him with the news. Every time, he got out of one surgery, there was another one waiting for him. It was like that all day. It was late when Meredith came into his OR.

"Dr. Hunt," she said. "I have a message for you from Dr. Yang." He looked up, immediately.

"She said she has been trying to get on to you, all day," Meredith continued.

"Yes, I have been in surgery after surgery," Owen said. "What did she say?" He was very anxious about what Meredith was going to say next.

"She said to tell you 'yes' " Meredith said, with a smile. Though no one could really see her smiling because it was hidden behind by her mask. But Owen could see the way Meredith's eyes crinkled at the sides, when she said that last statement.

"Is that all she said?" Owen asked. He, too, was smiling behind his mask.

"Yes," Meredith said. "I will leave you now. You can call her, when you're through."

"Thank you, Meredith," Owen said. He completed the rest of that grueling surgery with a song in his heart. He was so happy. He got one of the residents to close up the patient and he rushed out of the OR, tearing off his surgical gown in the process. He washed his hands before rushing off to the quiet conference room to make his call.

When she answered, the first thing he said was, "Thank you, thank you so much for giving me this."

"So you're happy?" she asked. "I am beyond happy," he responded.

"Okay, okay, now temper it down. Remember it is early days. I am only two weeks pregnant and you know a lot could happen in the first trimester," she said. "So only Meredith knows and you know. I wanted to tell you first but I just couldn't get on to you. I didn't actually tell Meredith. I just told her to tell you 'yes.' But she figured it out, anyway, because she knows we have been trying for a baby."

"It's okay," Owen said. "I don't mind that Meredith knows. But you are right. We won't tell anybody else until the 12th week. It is going to be hard for me to keep it a secret because I am overjoyed but I will do my best. Can I tell my mom, at least? She will be so happy."

Cristina sighed. "Okay, Owen, you can tell your mom. But tell her not to tell anyone else." She really didn't want to tell too many people before something went wrong. She remembered her first miscarriage, when she suffered the ectopic pregnancy. She didn't want something like that to happen again. The fewer people that knew about this pregnancy would mean fewer people to inform if things went wrong.

"Thank you," Owen said. "I just wish you were here and I could hold you in my arms and we could celebrate our baby."

"Yeah, me too," she admitted. "It is kinda lonely with us being on the opposite ends of the country." They both fell silent. They realized that they hadn't thought this part of the baby-making process through. They had been so focused on the conception that they hadn't given much thought about what would happen, once they became successful in getting pregnant. With her on the east coast and him on the west coast, he wouldn't be able to experience the joys of the actual pregnancy like ultrasounds, doctor's appointments and feeling her tummy grow with each passing month. He realized that he would be losing out on so much.

"We have to be together," they both said at the same time. They chuckled that they both uttered the same thought, simultaneously.

"I would miss out on so many things during the pregnancy," he said. "And I don't want to do that. I want us to be together and be there for all of the doctor's appointments. I want to see the ultrasounds and I want to hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time."

"At the moment, I don't even think that it will be possible. There is no chief of surgery opening at my hospital. There is no way that you could ever bowl out Harper Avery out of that position," she said. "He is an institution in himself. He will probably die in that position. That will be the only way the chief of surgery job will ever be open."

"And there is no Head of Cardio position here," he said. "Dr. Russell is occupying that position. He is very competent but he is no you." He sighed, loudly. Cristina then remembered what April had told her about Dr. Russell.

"That position may soon be open," she told him.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, puzzled. "The Head of Cardio position at Seattle Grace?"

"Yes," she replied. "April told me that she had heard Dr. Russell in a discussion with someone else that he was thinking of moving back to New Orleans, since his wife wanted to be closer to her family."

"What? I haven't heard any of this," he said. "I should keep my ears closer to the ground. I seem to be missing all of these gossipy bits. My, that Kepner is an amazing eavesdropper. She has some hidden talents."

"That she does," Cristina chuckled.

"Maybe I should initiate a discussion with Dr. Russell to find out what his plans are," Owen said. "If I can figure out his next move, I can make an early strike on the board to bring you here. You are going to cost them a whole lot of money, since you are the Cristina Yang. Couldn't you be less excellent so I can afford you?" He laughed at the thought because he knew that Cristina would always be exemplary since he met her as an over-achieving second year resident.

"Ha, ha," Cristina said. "I was born to be excellent. I can't help it."

"I know you were," he said. "And I wouldn't want you any different. The question is would you want to come back to Seattle? I know everyone would love to have you back, even though you are doing great things at Mass Gen."

"Yes, I think I would like to come back," she said. "I miss my friends. I don't have that sort of friendship at Mass Gen."

"What about me? Don't you miss me?" he asked. She answered with a smile in her voice. "More than anybody else. I would love waking up with you, every morning and going home with you at night."

"Me, too, I would love to have you back," he said. "I just need to find out if there is something I can offer you. You will bring a lot of business and prestige to the hospital."

"You do that," she said. "Anyway, I gotta go. I need to get some rest. Bye, honey."

"Bye," he whispered. He chuckled at her using that particular term of endearment. It was a long time he had heard that from her. Well, it was true that Vanessa had called him "sweetheart" when they were together, it just wasn't as sweet as hearing Cristina say "honey." He went to bed with a song in his heart, that night.

* * *

The next day, he spotted Dr. Russell in the cafeteria, having his lunch and reading a journal. To be honest, he and Russell were just cordial professional colleagues. They were not friends outside of work. He needed to find out more about Dr. Russell's possible plans to move to New Orleans. With his food tray in hand, Owen walked up to Russell's table.

"Hello, Jeff," Owen said, smoothly. "Can I join you?" Russell looked up, a little suspiciously. In the six years that he had been at the hospital, not once did he and Chief Hunt ever had lunch together in the cafeteria. Russell wondered what was the reason for this. Was he going to be fired?

"Hello, Chief Hunt," Russell said. "How are you? Of course, you can join me." He cleared away some of his belongings off the table and placed them in a chair next to him.

"Doing well, Jeff," Owen said, sitting down and starting to chew on his salad. "So how is Clementine? Is she good?"

Russell was amazed that Owen even knew that his wife's name was Clementine. If he only knew that Owen had looked up Jeff Russell's personnel file that very morning to find out the details of his family structure. He had also found that Russell had two boys, both already in college.

"Clementine is fine," Russell said. "She's been missing her family in New Orleans, mainly because her mother is getting up there in age and isn't doing too well." Owen's ears perked up. Russell had mentioned New Orleans, the key words that he was looking for.

"Oh, that's terrible. Clementine must be worried," Owen said. Jeff Russell nodded, sadly. "Yes, she is. She wants to go back for a bit to stay with her."

"Well, that would be hard on you, if she is gone for an extended period," Owen said, stroking his chin.

"Yes, yes, it will be. So we've been discussing a possible move," Dr. Russell said. "I am glad you sat down, Chief, I have been meaning to discuss this with you for some time, now. I have been thinking of making the move back to New Orleans, for my family's sake. The boys are practically grown up and are in college, so we don't have to stick around Seattle, anymore. I was thinking of not renewing my contract, when it ends in two months."

"Oh, really," Owen said. "I guess you must do what is best for your family. Thank you for telling me. I will just start the search for a new head of cardio."

Dr Russell looked at Owen, apologetically. "I am sorry to have to put in you in such a spot, Chief Hunt."

"No problem, Dr. Russell," Owen said. "It is fine. Well, I am getting back to work. I wish you the best of luck, Dr. Russell." He got up and shook Russell's hand. As Owen walked away, he had a huge smile on his face. Now was the next obstacle, getting the board to sign off on offering Cristina the job and paying her the big bucks that someone of her stature would require. Things were started to work out in his favor. Soon, she will be back in Seattle and back in his arms. It just had to happen.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments and reviews. I do appreciate when you take the time to do so.**


	12. Chapter 12 A Bidding War

With the information at hand, Owen was keen to attend the next board meeting. It was going to be held six weeks after his discussion with Dr. Russell in the Though he wasn't on the board, he was often invited to their meetings as the Chief of Surgery to give updates on the operations of the surgical department. The meeting started with the minutes of the last meeting, with everyone giving their input on the actionable items from the last time they met. Then, they started going around the table about the new order of business. When it was Owen's turn, he knew it was time to put forward the case for Cristina.

"We have a personnel vacancy coming up in six weeks," Owen said. "Dr. Russell, our head of cardio, has decided not to renew his contract. He and his wife plan to move back to New Orleans to be closer to her family. It is a vital position and we need to fill it, as soon as possible."

"Oh, dear," chairman of the board, Larry Jennings, said. "This usually means we have to poach someone from another hospital. Do you have any replacements in mind?"

"Yes, I do," Owen said, immediately. He hoped it was not too eager. "Dial it back, Owen," he told himself in his mind.

"Dr. Cristina Yang from Massachusetts General," he said. Several board members' mouths dropped open.

"The Cristina Yang?" Jennings repeated. "That will cost us quite a pretty penny. The woman's reputation is formidable. She is considered one of the best in the world plus her research and publishing are very impressive. Would she want to leave Harper Avery and Mass Gen to come here?"

"Well, as you know, Dr. Yang was a resident here and she has a fondness for the hospital," Owen said.

"Not to mention she is your former wife," Jennings said. Owen hoped that would not be brought up but he could not avoid it, now. "Yes, she is," Owen replied. "But that doesn't take away from her credentials."

"No, no, I don't mean anything by that," Jennings replied, quickly. "I mean if she is your former wife, she might not deal with us too harshly in the salary and benefits department." Owen was a little offended. As much as he wanted Cristina to be back in Seattle, there was no way he was going to allow her to be shortchanged in any way by the board.

"Dr. Yang will bring much prestige and business to Seattle Grace. It cannot be denied that she is considered the best in the country. Whether she is my former wife has no bearing on that," Owen said, emphatically.

"Don't get so upset, Dr. Hunt. We are aware of her reputation. If she is willing to come here, then by all means, start the negotiations and get back to us for final approval because I am sure her compensation will probably even rival yours," Jennings said. "To get her would indeed be a coup and right under Harper Avery's nose, too."

"I don't mind doing that," Owen said, with a smile. "I will start immediately." The board then turned its attention to other business.

* * *

After the meeting, he immediately called Cristina. "Hey," he said. "I passed your possible appointment as Head of Cardio to the board, so I got the go-ahead to start negotiations with you. So, I am going to work out a package and email it to you, so you can give me some feedback on it."

"Ooh, that was quick work," she said. "I guess you really want me there." She laughed. He laughed, too.

"They also pointed out that you were my former wife," he said. "I knew that Jennings would bring that up. That guy is like a snake oil salesman." Cristina laughed even harder. She remembered Jennings from her days at the hospital. "Okay, whenever you have dealings with him, just remember he once had a fish go up his penis, after taking a swim in the Amazon. We had to remove it from his bladder. That will help you bring him down a couple of notches in your mind."

"What?" Owen said, in an incredulous tone. "How come I never heard about that?"

"Oh, that was before your time. I was only an intern, then," Cristina said. "We were all very interested in the case. It was at the same time that we were cramming for our intern exams." What she didn't mention to Owen was that she was with Burke, then, and during that time, he was only bringing her cakes to sample for their potential wedding cake. She shuddered when she thought about that. Even though it had hurt like hell when Burke left her at the altar, it was probably for the best. If she had been married to Burke, she would not have been free to pursue a relationship with Owen.

"Oh, I will remember that," Owen said. "So how are you and my little poppy seed doing?" The fetus was now four weeks old.

"Well, I am getting a few bouts of morning sickness but it isn't too bad, as yet," she told him. "Certain foods are starting to make me feel sick but other than that, we are doing fine."

"So you are going to do an ultrasound at eight weeks?" he asked. "I wish I could be there."

"Yes," she said. "It is okay, Owen. Even if I get the eighth week ultrasound, we can still do it, again, whenever I get to Seattle. It will be the first thing we will do. Get an ultrasound done so you can see your baby and hear its heartbeat. Let's just see how fast you can get me there, Chief Hunt."

"I am working hard on that," he said. "Look out for my email. I worked on it for the past two weeks, even before I went to the board. Okay, gotta go now. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye," she said, hanging up her phone. She was headed to check on one of her patients, when she was stopped by Dr Harper Avery.

"Dr Yang, what is this I hear about you jumping ship and leaving Mass Gen?" he asked. "You're going back to Seattle?" Cristina was shocked. How did he know this? She hadn't mentioned it to anybody here at the hospital. "Sir?" she said.

"Come now, Yang, don't act coy with me. I heard it from my grandson's wife that the Head of Cardio is leaving Seattle Grace and there is a move afoot to recruit you for the position," he said.

APRIL! Cristina screamed the redhead's name in her mind. Not only was April a good eavesdropper, she also didn't know how to keep a secret. Cristina didn't know quite what to say to Dr. Avery. "Um..," she said.

"Don't think, Dr. Yang, that Mass Gen is going to give you up that easily," he said. "I will come up with a counter-offer." He walked away, leaving Cristina with her mouth agape. She got on her phone, immediately and called April.

"April Kepner, are you trying to sabotage me?" she said in a low voice, so that no one around her could hear. "How could you tell Dr. Avery that I was thinking of moving back to Seattle? I wanted my move to be low key and now the Chief of Surgery here knows about it."

"I am sorry, Cristina," April said. "It was a slip. Grandpa Avery was just going on and on about Mass Gen was the greatest and that Jackson and I should move to Mass Gen. Then, I told him that you were thinking of moving back to Seattle, so Seattle Grace Mercy West can't be that bad."

"Oh, God," Cristina groaned. "Now, I can no longer make a quiet exit from here. Everyone in the hospital will know that I want to leave." She hated that because she was a very private person.

"Again, I am sorry, Cristina," April said, apologetically.

"Alright, April. Bye," Cristina said. She hung up the phone and called Owen and told him the new information.

"Oh, no," Owen said. "That means there is going to be a bidding war for you. I am not sure the board would like to get into it with Harper Avery because after all, he is Harper Avery. He is not going to let you go, that easy." He groaned. "That April and her big mouth," Cristina said, sympathetically.

"Oh, well," he said. "I just think that I will look over my proposed package and add some sweeteners to it so it can stand up to anything that Mass Gen has to offer. Look out for it before the end of the day."

"Okay, Owen," she said, before she hung up.

* * *

Over the next two weeks, there were a number of offers and counter-offers between Seattle Grace and Mass Gen. However, there came a time, when Owen said he could not offer her much more. She would be the highest-paid head of a surgical department at Seattle Grace, even more than Shepherd. Still, Mass Gen countered with an even higher offer. She told Owen this. He sighed. The board would not budge on their final offer, given that they had sweetened their deal five times.

"I am sorry, Cristina, I cannot offer any more than this," he said, when he called her. "The board is not going to approve anything more." He sounded defeated. She was quiet, on the other end. "It's okay, Owen," she said. "You were going to win, no matter what you were going to offer."

"What?" he said. "You're still going to come, even though we have the lower offer."

"Yes," she told him. "There is one thing at Seattle Grace that Mass Gen could never offer. YOU are there. That, to me, is Seattle Grace's biggest selling point." He chuckled.

"Thank you for working so hard to get me there and getting me the best deal possible," she said. "So you can tell the board that I am accepting their final offer. Just send me the paperwork and I will sign it."

"Oh, thank God, it is all over," he said. "And you are going to be here, soon. I can't wait to see you again." He had the package sent to her for her signature. She signed it and sent it back to him. He was overjoyed when he got back the signed paperwork in his hands. It was really happening. She was going to come back.

* * *

Two weeks later, Cristina stepped off the plane from Boston. She was now eight weeks pregnant. The morning sickness had continued to plague her but she was taking anti-nausea medicine to help counteract it. She was glad she had reached eight weeks. Only one more month and they would be in the clear for the first trimester. Owen didn't know that Cristina was in Seattle. She was going to surprise him.

As soon as she got there, she called Meredith and asked her if she had made arrangements. Meredith told her that everything was in place and April was going to help. She hung up the phone and got a taxi, to the hospital. She went straight to the ER, where she met up with April. April gave her a sweet smile and said the equipment was in Exam Room 1. Cristina thanked her and went to Exam Room 1, where Dr. Elsa Flagler, an ob/gyn was waiting. Cristina introduced herself and Dr Flagler told her to lie on the table.

"I guess all we have to do now is wait," Cristina said, as she took off her pants and got on the table. After about 10 minutes, the door opened and Owen came in, looking at a chart. "I got a call from Dr. Kepner about needing a consult." He looked up and saw Cristina on the table.

"Cristina," he said. "What are you doing here? I didn't expect you until next week." He went across and gave her a kiss. He then noticed the ob/gyn doctor in the room. "Dr. Flagler." The woman nodded.

"I thought I would surprise you," she said. "It is my eighth week ultrasound of our raspberry. I didn't want you to miss it, so I came to Seattle, earlier than expected." He kissed her on the forehead. "Thank you." He took her hand into his.

"Well, this is going to be a little cold," Dr. Flagler said, as she rubbed the gel on Cristina's stomach. She then ran the wand across it. "Oh," she said, staring at the image on the screen.

"What's wrong?" Owen said, anxiously.

"Nothing," Dr. Flagler said. "See that. Two distinct sacs. It is not just one raspberry but two raspberries."

"Twins?" Cristina said. "Twins!" Owen yelled, happily. "Twins," the doctor confirmed.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your reviews and comments. Thanks for taking the time to do so.**


	13. Chapter 13 Living Arrangements

**A/N: Some mature content.**

"Oh my God, Cristina! We're going to have twins!" Owen said, happily. Then, he saw the look on Cristina's face. She looked terrified. He took her hand into his and squeezed it. "It's going to be okay, Cristina. It will be the two of us. It won't be that bad. If April and Jackson could do it, so can we." It didn't make her feel any better, he knew, because she didn't speak again for the rest of the appointment.

The only time she smiled was when she heard the two distinct and separate heartbeats. Owen's heart was so full of joy, listening to the heartbeats. Those were his children. His children. Well, actually, their children. He was so filled with gratitude and love for this woman for giving him this. They both listened, attentively, to the doctor, as she spoke about the importance of pre-natal care and they worked out a series of appointments for the next few months. Owen put the appointments into his phone. He was not going to miss any of them.

After the ultrasound, Owen took Cristina home to the firehouse, before returning to work. He gave her a reassuring kiss before he left, saying, "Everything is going to be fine, Cristina. Just fine." She watched him leave from the top of stairs, still not convinced. It got her thinking.

* * *

She had arrived earlier than planned, so Cristina did not start work, immediately. She had sold her apartment in Boston and had received a great price for it. She had sold all of her furniture and had only come to Seattle with just her clothes and was planning to ship the bulkier items to Owen's firehouse. Since the ultrasound appointment and the discovery of the twins she was carrying, she had made a decision to find a place to buy. Owen, who had always assumed that she would be living with him, was not aware of this.

As she had the time before she started work, she decided to look for a place. She was in the shower, when her phone rang. Owen, who was having breakfast, picked up the phone and looked at the screen. It was not a number he recognized. He answered the phone, "Hello, Cristina Yang's phone."

"Ah, good morning," the person on the other end said. "This is Harrison Coulter of Moresby Realtors. Is Dr. Yang available?"

"I am sorry but she is in the shower, right now. Can I take a message?" Owen asked.

"Yes, please. Tell her I will be there in 15 minutes to take her around to see a couple of condos," Mr. Coulter said. "I have some lovely properties I think that she would like. I am sure she could find a new home among them."

"Okay, Mr. Coulter, I will give her the message," Owen said. He hung up and finished up his breakfast, waiting for her to emerge from the bathroom. She came out, wearing a big, fluffy white robe and toweling off her damp hair.

"Good that you are out. You just got a call from Mr. Coulter from Moresby Realtors. He said he will be here soon to pick you up so you can see some condos," he said, in a rather unhappy tone. She was too busy, drying her hair, that she didn't catch the inflection in his voice.

"Oh, good," she said. Then, her phone rang, again. She ran to pick it up. "Hello," she said, breathlessly. "You're here, already. Oh, good grief. Give me two minutes." She ran back to the bedroom, dragged out her suitcase from under the bed and pulled out a jeans and a shirt. She pulled on a sweater and jammed her feet in a pair of leather boots. He watched her dress, realizing that she had not bothered to unpack her clothes into his closet. He had cleared half of the walk-in closet for her and there she was, pulling her clothes out of a suitcase. Now fully dressed, she ran a comb through her unruly hair and gave Owen a passing kiss on the cheek. "See ya later," she yelled, as she ran down the stairs. He could not believe what had just happened, there. He had wanted to talk about this. Why was she looking for a place to live? She already had a place to live. They were definitely going to have a chat about this, when he came home from work, that night. He sighed and got dressed for work.

* * *

Cristina had a rather packed day as she and her realtor had made it possible for her to see six condos, that day. They were all different and each had their merits. The one she liked the best was one that was overlooking the water. She could see the ferryboats from the balcony. She could imagine herself having coffee and watching the water. "I like this one, Mr. Coulter," she said, turning to the short, bespectacled realtor.

"Maybe we should put an offer on it. It is not going to last long," Coulter said. He could already see the commission dollars. She was not going to need financing, which made the buying process that much easier.

"I would like to think about it overnight, and I will give you a call in the morning about putting in the offer," she said. "But this is definitely the one that I like the best."

* * *

Mr. Coulter dropped her off at the firehouse and she trudged up the stairs, feeling exhausted. Looking at condos all day was more exhausting than being in the operating room, she thought. She took a long, luxurious, relaxing bath before drying off and relaxing in her robe on the couch. She picked up a medical journal and started reading. Soon enough, she drifted off to sleep on the couch. That was where Owen found her, when he came home. He had brought home some Vietnamese take-out for the two of them. He took off his jacket and hung it up, before he sat on the edge of the couch and shook her awake. She opened her eyes. "Hey, you," she said, putting up her arms for him. He raised her up and gave her a hug. They hugged and rocked for a bit.

"How was your day?" she asked. "Fine," he said. "Normal day. Lots of paperwork and administrative stuff. Had one surgery, today. How was yours?" He was more interested about how her day went.

"Oh, it was fine. I found one place that l liked. It is a two-bedroom condo that overlooks the water," she said. "Thinking of making an offer, tomorrow."

He pulled away from her to look her in the face. "Cristina, why are you looking for a place to live? I thought you were going to live in the firehouse with me? Didn't you say that you wanted to wake up with me in the morning and come home with me at night? What's changed?"

She swallowed. "I began thinking about getting my own place, after we found out that we were going to have twins."

"What?" he said, puzzled. "Why would that change your mind?"

"Well, Owen, we haven't lived with each other for six years. I mean we've visited each other for a couple of days but we have not lived with each other," she said. "Suppose we find out that we are not compatible. Suppose we can't live with each other. Suppose we don't work out. We broke up once before and the possibility exists that we can break up, again. Then, what happens to me and the twins? We must have a place to live. When I found out that we were having twins, it just became too real. I wasn't going to be responsible for one life, but two lives. You and I don't have the best track record with each other. We already got divorced before. I need to make sure that the twins are protected and have a roof over their heads."

"Why are you thinking like this?" he said. "Sure, we may have changed a bit over the years but I am sure with a little compromise on my part and your part, we can make it work on living together. So all of this uncertainty about us, started at the ultrasound appointment? I could see that you were terrified, Cristina. I told you that it will be fine. We are both going to be here for our babies."

"Life isn't certain, Owen," she countered. "We both know that."

"What are you so afraid of, Cristina? I am certain that I love you and I am pretty sure you love me, too. And I am also certain that we are going to love these babies. Sure, we will probably have arguments but you know we just have to work through our problems and be there for each other and for the babies. That is the certainty that I know," he said, firmly. "I want you here with me. In this firehouse. That you bought for us." She let out a big breath and was silent for a bit. "Okay, I will think about it," she said. It wasn't exactly what he wanted to hear but for now, it would have to do.

"Okay," he said. "I bought Vietnamese food from that restaurant that you used to like. Are you hungry?" She nodded. She could tell that Owen was upset and disappointed. They didn't talk about it for the rest of the night. As they got into bed, that night, he turned away from her. She didn't really like that. She turned towards him and wrapped her arm around him, slipping her hand under his shirt to feel his stomach. Then, she slipped her hand lower down into his pants and stroked him into a rigid state, while leaving soft kisses all over his back. He groaned. It was futile, trying to resist her. He turned around and cupped her face, while he kissed her, over and over again. They each undressed the other before he told her to kneel, as he went behind her and pushed her legs slightly apart and entered her from behind. "Oh, God," she whispered. Even as the thrusting became harder and faster, he reveled in the feel of her slightly rounded stomach. It turned him on even more the thought that she was carrying his children. She realized it was true that pregnancy enhanced all of her sexual desires and responses. "I love you," she said, as her orgasm sent shudders through her body. "I love you, too," he whispered, as he climaxed. They both collapsed on the bed, a tangle of legs and arms.

* * *

She woke up, early, the next morning. Owen was still asleep. She stroked his cheek with her thumb before she got out of bed. She found her phone in the living room and decided to call Mr. Coulter. "Hello, Mr. Coulter. This is Cristina Yang. I am sorry for calling you this early. I just wanted to tell you that I will not be going ahead with the offer on the condo."

"I am sorry to hear that," Coulter said on the other end. "Can I ask why you changed your mind?"

"I have decided to stay put where I am. I think it is the best place for me," she told him. "Thank you very much for taking me around, yesterday."

"Well, okay," Coulter said. He was a little miffed that he was losing out on this commission but he knew there was nothing he could do about it.

"Mr. Coulter, thank you for being so understanding. I will recommend you to every friend, who is looking for a place to live or rent," she said, hoping that might appease the realtor. "Goodbye, Mr. Coulter." She hung up the phone and went back to the bed. She snuggled up against him and closed her eyes. Owen opened his eyes. He had heard her phone conversation and he could not help but smile. He wrapped his arms around her. His family was still together under one roof.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you for leaving your reviews. I do appreciate them.**


	14. Chapter 14 Settling In

Cristina's first week at the hospital was also Dr. Russell's last week. He had stayed to ensure that everything was properly handed over to the new head of cardio. When they met, Dr. Russell told her that he greatly admired her work. She thanked him for his kind words.

"There is a lot of excitement among the residents and the interns about you coming here," he said. "Far more excited about you than they were ever about me."

"Oh, don't say that, Dr. Russell, your last article was fascinating," she said. Dr. Russell smiled. It was good to get recognition from someone, who was as famous and as talented as Cristina Yang. He knew that the hospital probably had to pay a lot of money to get someone of Cristina's caliber there. He was not aware of Cristina's connection to the Chief of Surgery.

Dr. Russell was very accommodating and helpful to Cristina in the transition period. When it was time to say goodbye at the end of the week, she wished him well in his new life in New Orleans. As he left, she started reading some of the new cases that were coming into the hospital. Owen knocked on the open door.

"Hello, stranger," he said. "So how was your first week?" He closed the door and came in, walking to the other side of the desk. He started massaging the back of her neck.

"Aw, great," she said. "That feels wonderful. My first week back has been rather uneventful. Dr. Russell and I went through all of the administrative side of the job, this week. I barely got a chance to cut. Next week, that will change. I am going to get some blood on these hands." She groaned with pleasure as his nimble fingers worked out the kinks in her neck. "You give the best massages, Owen. One of the reasons I moved back to Seattle." He laughed.

"So when are you going to tell everyone?" he asked, eagerly.

"Everyone about what?" she said, puzzled.

"The babies. That you are pregnant with twins," he said. "You're coming up to the end of your first trimester. Time to announce it." She could tell from his voice how excited he was.

"Okay," she said. She was willing to give him this piece of happiness. "You can start telling your colleagues. I will tell my friends."

"Thanks," he said. "What size are they now?"

"They are plums," she told him. "Plums. Fat juicy plums. Whoever devised this system of comparing the fetus size to fruit hadn't realized how hungry it made pregnant women. Now, I feel for something to eat."

"Okay, we will just grab something on the way home," he said. "Ready?" She nodded. She packed up her handbag and they left, together.

* * *

It was on Monday in the attendings' lounge that Cristina finally made an official announcement to her friends. Alex, Meredith, April and Jackson were all there, having their lunch. "I just wanted to tell you guys that I am pregnant. I am just past my first trimester."

"Congratulations," Alex said. "I am going to enjoy seeing you go through pregnancy. It will give me lots of humor, I imagine." Cristina gave him a glare.

"I already knew," Meredith said, smiling broadly. "So did I," April said, with a grin.

"What? And you didn't tell me?" Jackson said, giving his wife an accusatory look.

"I am shocked, April Kepner," Cristina said. "You actually kept a secret. I thought Jackson would have known, already."

"I am capable of doing such things," she said, a little defensively. "Even though my track record says otherwise."

"As usual, the guys are last to know," Alex said, bitterly. "So I assume Hunt is the father?"

"Yes," Cristina said, a little indignantly. "Who else could it be?"

"I don't know," Alex said. "Who knows? You could have been having a little something-something with one of the doctors back there at Mass Gen. We don't know about your history, across there."

"I am appalled, Alex, that you could say something like that," she said. "I can assure you that Owen is the father of these babies." She really wasn't appalled. She just knew that Alex could often say offensive things without really meaning anything by it.

"What?" April suddenly shrieked. "Did you say babies? Are you having twins? Or triplets?"

"No, no to triplets but I am having twins," she said. Meredith's mouth dropped open. "You didn't tell me that it was two babies," she said, shaking her head. "I am your best friend and you didn't tell me."

"Well, you were the first one to know that I was pregnant," Cristina answered. "Even before Owen. I think we just wanted to keep that to ourselves until the first trimester had passed."

"Twins, Yang," Jackson said. "That is a lot of hard work. Over the past two and a half years, Tyler and Tegan have run April and me ragged. It is always a joy to drop them off in daycare in the morning. Pure hell at night when one of them can't sleep and you can't sleep, too. We are surgeons, we need our sleep. But those little munchkins don't know that."

"Yeah, but Jackson, be truthful. You wouldn't change those kids for anything," April said, poking her husband in the ribs. Jackson smiled, "Yup, they are my pride and joy. Never knew I could love those little buggers so much," he admitted. "So, congratulations, Cristina. Reeeeeally looking forward to seeing you with twins." He laughed, heartily.

"Hmph," Cristina said. She really was a little scared about the prospect of twins. One baby was enough trouble; she couldn't imagine how it would be with two little babies, who were totally dependent on you. The uncertainty showed on her face.

"Don't worry, Cristina," Meredith said. "April and I will help. After all, we are both experienced mamas. Even Jackson and Alex will help."

"What!" Alex said, indignantly. "You're signing me up for babysitting duties and you didn't even ask me."

"Shut up, Alex," Meredith said. "As I was saying, we will ALL help."

"Thanks, Mer," Cristina said. "I am grateful." She gave Meredith a hug.

* * *

Cristina was standing at a nurses' station, when she noticed the young man staring at her. He was tall, African-American and looked vaguely familiar.

"Yes, can I help you?" she asked, giving him a withering look. She hated when people stared at her.

"Yes, my name is Dr Shane Ross, I am a surgical fellow in the cardio- thoracic department. I wanted to introduce myself. I am so grateful that you have come here to Seattle Grace to continue your career," Dr Ross said.

"Ah, good to meet you, Dr. Ross," she said as she shook his hand. "Have we met before? You seem somewhat familiar to me."

"Well, kinda, sorta," Ross admitted, sheepishly. "I was an intern when you were recuperating from the plane crash. You threw a vase at my head."

"Ah, yes," she said. "I now remember. You called me an end table." Her glare bore right through Dr. Ross, who started sweating uncomfortably. "You must realize something about me, Dr. Ross. I am like an elephant. I never forget."

"Well, Dr. Yang, I was a foolish and stupid intern, then," he said. "I have matured a lot, since. I hope you can accept my deep-felt apology. I hope you won't hold it against me."

"Hmm," Cristina said. "We shall see. So I guess you want to work with me in the OR."

"Yes, I would like that very much," he said. His eyes lit up at the prospect. To work with the great Dr. Yang was like a dream come true.

"Let me ask, Dr. Ross, were you always into cardio? I was living and breathing cardio from the time I was a medical student," she said.

"No," Shane said. "I toyed with the idea of neuro for a while, then I discovered cardio was more my thing, when I became a resident."

"Okay, at least you recognize what is the superior field," she said. "Very well." She tossed a case file at him. "This looks to be very interesting. Let me hear what you think." Dr. Ross eagerly took the folder from her. She gave him a chance to read everything before they started analyzing the case. Soon, they were engrossed in a lively conversation.

* * *

Dr. Ross was not the only one, clamoring to work with Dr. Yang. The interns and the residents were in a frenzy to work with her. She was an amazing teacher, Owen knew. All of the interns raved about her technique and how much they were learning. He was gratified. He could tell the board about it. Plus, a lot of patients were traveling to the hospital, so she could operate on them. All that extra revenue would certainly please the board that their investment in Dr. Yang was proving to be a brilliant one for the hospital.

As for her pregnancy, she was glad she was out of the first trimester. It had dampened her fear of losing the babies through miscarriage. The only thing that was bothering her was this aversion of some of her favorite foods. Just one whiff and she would be nauseous. At least, the morning sickness had subsided; that was certainly a relief. Owen made sure she was comfortable both at work and at home. He was such a good man, she thought. No wonder she loved him so much.

* * *

They were at home relaxing on the couch, with Owen massaging her feet. Being pregnant and working long hours in the OR was not a great combination. "Tomorrow is my appointment. Would you be able to make that?" she asked. "Five months. Well, actually 22 weeks."

"Of course, I would not miss that for the world. It is my most important meeting for the day," he said, with a smile. "Okay, what size are they now?"

"They are the size of papayas," she said. "You know at this stage, we can tell the babies' gender. Do you want to know?" He thought for a moment. "No," he said, firmly. "I don't want to know. I want it to be a surprise."

"Well, okay. I want to know," she said. "We will put you out of the room and I will let the doctor tell me what it is. And I won't tell you." He gasped. "I know you, Cristina Yang. You are going to torture me for the rest of the pregnancy with it," he replied.

"Of course," she said. "It's your choice because you don't want to know. Let's see how long you last, knowing that I know." Then, she stopped. "Oh! Quick, Owen, feel my belly, they are moving around," she said. Owen reached forward and felt her stomach. The movement was slight. "Hey there, babies," he said, talking to her stomach. "I am your daddy and I already love you so much. I can't wait for you guys to get here." He rested his head on her stomach. She ruffled his hair, as they lay there in total contentment.

* * *

The next day, they were at Dr. Flagler's office with Cristina on the table. Dr. Flagler checked Cristina's chart. "Everything seems to be going well. Your weight, your blood tests. Okay, now here is the fun part. We are going to check these papayas to see how they are doing," Dr. Flagler said. She put the gel on Cristina's stomach and ran the wand over it. "Yes, precious babies," the doctor said. "You are looking really good. So, I can tell you what sex the babies are. Do you want to now?"

Owen and Cristina looked at each other and laughed. "He doesn't want to know so he is going to step out of the room. You can come back in two minutes." Owen released her hand and left the room. He returned a couple of minutes later. The two women looked at him, each of them giving him a conspiratorial smile. He wondered if he had made the right decision.

Later that night, when they were home, having dinner, he kept looking across at her, giving her some little smiles. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she demanded.

"Nothing," he said. "I just love you, that's all."

"Hmm," she answered. "Are you…are you trying to gauge from my face what sex the babies are? Hoping I give off some hints in my demeanor?"

"No, no, of course not," he said, staring at his meal, intently.

"Oh, please, you're the one who said that you didn't want to know," she said, teasingly.

"Forget about it," he said. "I can do this. I can hold off till the birth." He concentrated on his meal. Cristina gave him a wicked smile.

That night, he tossed and turned on his side of the bed. He looked at Cristina. She seemed to be peacefully asleep. "Gosh, I can't take it anymore," he said, aloud. He shook her awake. She reluctantly opened her eyes. "What's the matter, Owen?"

"I can't take it. I need to know. What gender are the papayas?" he pleaded.

"Are you sure about this?" she said. "Once I tell you, you can't go back." He nodded.

"Okay. One is a boy and the other is a girl," she said. "Are you satisfied?"

"Oh, thank you, thank you," he said, kissing her. "We have one of each. Oh, that is so freaking wonderful."

"Yeah, I thought so, too," Cristina agreed. "Now can we go back to sleep?"

"Yes, yes, yes," he said. She snuggled against him and he wrapped his arm around her. He felt her stomach and was pleased when the babies moved under his hand. "My little boy and my little girl." He closed his eyes and soon fell asleep. Everything was right in the world.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments and reviews. Thanks for taking the time to do so.**


	15. Chapter 15 A Place to Live

Cristina was struggling to go up with the stairs of the firehouse. Three flights of stairs to reach to the top floor were not easy for a woman, who was 28 weeks pregnant. Twenty eight weeks, she thought to herself. They were now the size of eggplants. She just had to last out nine more weeks of this pregnancy. Thirty seven weeks was considered full-term for twins.

Operating while pregnant was also a task. She couldn't do very long surgeries, anymore because standing on her feet for long hours made her feet swell, especially with the added weight of the babies. She was grateful to be home after a long day. If only she could get up these stairs. Owen, who had been parking the truck, found her still trying to make it up the stairs. "Need a push?" he asked, grinning at her. She turned around and gave him a glare.

"It's you and your super sperm that did this to me," she said, grumpily.

"No, no. Since the babies are of different gender, that means you released two eggs. Your eggs happily accommodated my super sperm and that is how we got to this place," he told her. "Let me give you a hand." He took her arm and helped her all the way up to the top. She was grateful, when she got there. She headed straight to the bedroom, kicked off her shoes and went to the bathroom. She emerged a couple of minutes later. "What a relief. Those babies were pressing down on my bladder and it was taking me so long to get up the stairs." She collapsed on the bed.

"Are you hungry?" he asked. "What would you like to order?"

"Anything," she screamed from the bed. "I can eat an entire buffalo, right now. I am so desperately hungry. You choose but just order lots of it." Owen started going through their stack of menus that was on the kitchen counter. He knew that Cristina said to order anything but that was not a wise idea. She could no longer handle spicy food. The last time she had anything, she moaned and groaned because she had heartburn and could not go to sleep. Since she couldn't sleep, he couldn't sleep. They were so dead tired by the next morning that they took the day off to catch up on some sleep. Both of them would have been a hazard in the operating room. They couldn't allow that to happen again, so he ordered food that was still tasty but not spicy.

Cristina lay on the bed, feeling exhausted. That climb up the three flights of stairs had taken a lot out of her. She wondered if she could last another nine weeks, climbing up the stairs. Nine weeks and then, the babies would be here. They had bought two wooden cribs and they hadn't even put them together as yet. She stared at the boxes on the side of the bedroom. They didn't even have space for a proper nursery for the twins. She sighed, loudly. Owen heard it, immediately. He was always attuned to her moods, now that the pregnancy hormones had taken over her body. Sometimes, she would just burst into tears for no reason. Even though he knew her tears had nothing to do with him, it still made him wish he could do something to stop her tears.

"What's the matter, Cristina?" he asked. She sat up. "Now, Owen, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. But what the heck are we doing, having two babies in this loft?"

"What do you mean?" he asked. She pointed to the boxes, holding the cribs. "When we put those up in our bedroom, won't it become so cramped in here? Those are not small cribs and they're going to take up a lot of room."

"Yeah, I know," he said. He wondered if she was getting mad about the fact that he hadn't put up the cribs, as yet.

"So, don't you think we might have to find a new place to live," she said. "A place where there are multiple bedrooms, so we can give them a nursery and then, eventually, their own bedrooms. After all, it is a little boy and a little girl and they won't want to share a bedroom."

Owen was shocked. Was Cristina actually saying that they should sell the firehouse? It had been his home for nearly nine years. He looked around. He was very attached to the place, especially since it was Cristina, who had bought the place for the two of them. "You want to sell the place," his voice betrayed his shock at her suggestion. She tried to soften the blow. "I love the place as much as you do," she said. "But it is not exactly the most kid-friendly place. Those stairs, for example, definitely not kid-friendly." Owen was silent. He knew she was right. The loft was a lovely place for two adults but he could immediately see all of the hazards. He remembered when Vanessa had wanted him to sell the place but he had resisted it, as much as he could. Now, here was Cristina, suggesting that they sell the place but this time, he was not going to fight it. He had been in a different situation, when Vanessa had asked him to sell the firehouse. It just wasn't him alone. Now it was him, Cristina and two babies, who were going to be the most important things in their lives. Still, it was hard to let go of the place. He sighed, before he spoke. "Okay," he said. Cristina got up from the bed and hugged him. They stood there in the middle of their firehouse, just holding each other.

* * *

The next day, Cristina called Mr. Coulter, the realtor who had found the condos for her. Since he didn't get a commission from her, she was hoping that he would be happy to work as their realtor. He would be tasked to find them a place to live for a family plus the sale of the firehouse. Mr. Coulter was overjoyed that he could be selling the firehouse. He could already see the type of clientele that would want such a hip place to live. He was dying to see the renovations the doctors had made to it. He readily agreed to both tasks. Since they really didn't want too many people traipsing through their house at different times and days, Owen and Cristina agreed to an open house, while they were at work, one weekend. Mr. Coulter was giddy with excitement.

The open house turned out to be a spectacular success, Mr. Coulter reported after the event. He had already received four offers for the place and all were over the asking price. It was easy enough. They chose the highest offer. While they were leaving the firehouse, they still needed a place to live. Mr. Coulter found them five homes in family-friendly neighborhoods. Owen was fine with any of the homes. The homes were all lovely and to be honest, Owen would have been okay, living in any one of them. But there was one house, that took his breath away. It was in an older, tree-lined neighborhood, where all of the houses had lots of character. It was an Arts and Craft two-storey house, with a huge porch entry and a balcony to the front.

"It is a little over 3800 square feet," Mr. Coulter said. "Three bedrooms, three and a half baths. All bathrooms are en-suite, there are walk-in closets in each bedroom, formal living and dining room, den, breakfast nook in a fabulous kitchen. Family room, laundry area and two-car garage."

While they loved the house, Owen was in his glee when he saw the big backyard for his kids to play. He turned around and looked at Cristina. She could see it in his eyes. As always, it really didn't matter where she lived, as long as they were together. He had the same look in his eyes that he had when he first saw the firehouse. She recognized it, immediately. This was the one he wanted. She loved the place, too. It was up to her to make the final decision because she knew Owen would live anywhere she chose. She turned to Mr. Coulter, "I think this is the one. The character of this house speaks to me."

"Excellent," Mr. Coulter said. He knew that he was getting an even bigger commission for this house than he would from the condo that Dr. Yang had initially wanted to buy. "I will put in an offer, immediately." They worked with the realtor to put in the best possible offer. Two days later, Mr. Coulter called back with the excellent news that their house was theirs. So, with the firehouse now sold to a young, professional couple, they needed to start packing up their stuff.

* * *

When Mr. Coulter came by to give them the key to their new place, they already had everything packed up and the movers were already putting their furniture into their truck. Bit by bit, everything of their former lives at the firehouse was placed into the truck. Soon enough, the place was empty. Cristina and Owen stood in the middle of the firehouse in what was once their living room. They held hands as they remembered.

"We have had some good times here," Owen said. "We've also had some really not-so-good times here," Cristina reminded him. "Yeah, but those times are in the past, now," he said. "We have a new, fresh start with each other. We are going to have a future together - me, you, our kids."

They walked down the stairs, where Owen closed the big, red doors, before they got into their truck to go to their new place. As they got to their new house, the movers were already there, waiting for them to arrive at the new place. As soon as they got there, Cristina took charge and started ordering everyone around. But she got tired and had to rest on the sofa, that was still on the lawn. She lay there, rubbing her belly. She was now 36 weeks pregnant. Owen came over and sat down. "The honeydews tiring you out?" he asked.

"Yes," she said. "This couch feels like heaven, right now. I could take a nap, right here but the neighbors will think that I am uncivilized. That won't be a good first impression."

"Come on," he said, as he helped her up. "I think the bed has been put in our bedroom. Why don't you take a rest?" She allowed him to guide her into the house and into their bed. There weren't any sheets on the bed, as yet but she didn't care, as she just fell on to the bare mattress in exhaustion. She closed her eyes and Owen kissed her on the forehead, before leaving the bedroom to take over the supervision of the move. It was hours before Cristina woke up. When she opened her eyes, she was startled to find herself in a strange place. Then, she remembered that she was in her new house. She was hearing voices, other than Owen downstairs. She got up and found everyone was there, helping to put the place together. Derek, Meredith, Callie, Arizona, Bailey, Ben, Jackson, April and Alex were all there. The place seemed to be completely done.

"Hey there, sleepyhead," Owen said. "Our friends helped me to put the place, together." Just then, the doorbell rang. "Ah, that must be the pizza guys. Our first pizza delivery at our new house, Cristina." He went to the door and came back with five different boxes in his hand.

"Thanks for helping," Cristina said, as everyone grabbed a couple of slices of pizza. Owen took out two slices and put them on a plate for Cristina. She happily munched at the pizza. There was much chatter and laughter in the room. Between munches, Cristina joined in the really had great friends, she noted. In one week, her babies were going to make their appearance and she was going to be happy to introduce them to her friends. Owen came and hugged her from behind. "Are you okay?" he asked, kissing her on the neck

"Yes," she replied. "Everything is wonderful." That is, until she felt that twinge of pain and trickle of water running down her leg.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your comments and thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to do so.**


	16. Chapter 16 They're Coming

She wondered if she had peed herself. Damn these children were making it so hard for her to control her bladder; and to do it in front of everyone, that was just awful and totally embarrassing. "Take me to the bathroom," she told Owen. "I need you to hide me."

"What?" he said, a little puzzled. But he did as he was told. He hid her from the eyes of her colleagues, until they made it to the hallway bathroom. When they got there, she stepped inside and showed him how wet her clothes were. "I think I peed myself. I didn't even know until I started feeling wet," she said, taking off her sweat pants. The liquid was still trickling down her leg.

Owen smiled. "I don't think that you peed yourself. I think your water broke, Cristina. The babies are coming." As soon as he said that, she felt a strange pain. "I think I just had a contraction," she said. "So that is what it feels like. I have a high threshold for pain, so it hasn't really sunk in that I am having contraction pains."

"I guess we should head for the hospital," Owen said. "It's a good thing that we packed your bags, two weeks ago. I will go upstairs and get you some fresh clothes and we could head out." She looked at him, gratefully. He was such a good husband. No, no, she reminded herself, he was not her husband. He was a good partner. She sat down on the toilet, until he came back. He helped her change and then, they emerged from the bathroom.

"Guys, Cristina's water broke so we are headed to the hospital," he said. "Please stay and have the rest of the pizza. Meredith, you can lock up and just drop off the keys at the hospital for me. Also, Meredith, April, can you do that one thing that I asked you about?"

"Sure, Owen," Meredith said. "April and I know what to do. I will see you at the hospital, after we're done. I am pretty sure it is going to be a good number of hours before the wee Hunts make their appearance."

Owen helped Cristina into the truck and they drove off to the hospital. "How are the contractions coming along, Cristina?" he asked. "They are okay. Right now, they just feel like strong menstrual cramps and I do have a dull ache in my lower back. It is just plain uncomfortable. No matter what position I try to sit, it is just so uncomfortable," she said, shifting around in her seat.

"Just hang on. We are getting to the hospital in a jiffy," he said. He was driving a lot faster than he normally did and he hoped the cops wouldn't pull him over. His mind would be put at ease, once Cristina was safe in a hospital bed. His fear became realized when he saw the flashing lights behind the truck. "Just great," he said, sarcastically.

The young officer came and knocked on the window. "License and registration, please," he said.  
"Good evening, officer," Owen said, as he handed over the license and registration. "I am aware that I was driving over the speed limit, so just give me the ticket so I will be on my way. I need to get to the hospital because my wife is currently in active labor." He gave Cristina a look, so she could help with the situation. Cristina played along by letting out an extremely loud moan, like if she was in deep pain. Even as she did it, it occurred to her that Owen had called her his wife.

"Ma'am, are you okay?" the young officer said, the alarm in his voice was evident.

"Yes," she squeaked out, as she gripped the sides of her stomach. "Just some labor pains. We're having twins."

"Okay, forget the ticket," the officer said. "Just follow me. What hospital?"

"Seattle Grace Mercy West," Owen informed him. "Fine," said the officer, who ran back to his vehicle. He got in, started his car and drove in front of the truck. He stuck out his head from his vehicle and shouted, "Follow me." He put on his siren and drove off, with Owen following him in close pursuit.

"See, Cristina, we got a police escort to the hospital. Like if you were royalty. No more waiting at red lights," Owen said, grinning. "By the way, that was a wonderful moan you did there. You really sold it. You are quite a good actress." Cristina shook her head and glared at him. He chuckled.

They made it to the hospital in record time. As Owen helped Cristina out of the truck, the officer yelled, "Good luck, folks" as he drove off.

"Now, wasn't that nice of him?" he said. As they got to the doors, Owen yelled at a male attendant, "Wheelchair! Dr. Yang is going to have these babies." The attendant became fully alert as he found a wheelchair and brought it to them. He knew this was the Chief of Surgery and the Head of Cardio. Cristina gratefully sat in the wheelchair. "Do you want me to take over, sir?" the attendant asked. Owen shook his head. He was going to take her to the delivery room area. He barked out to a nurse, "Can you get Dr. Flagler to meet us in the delivery room area?" They had already done their paperwork in advance, so it was just to get her to the OB department. They were surprised to find Dr. Flagler already waiting for them.

"So this is it. Let's get you comfortable and we are going to check," Dr. Flagler said. As the nurses helped Cristina up on the bed and hooked her up to the machines, Dr. Flagler examined her. "Early days, Cristina. We will be here for quite a while. I am going to predict it will be another six to eight hours, depending on how you progress."

"Six to eight hours!" Cristina shrieked. "How can I stand that?"

"Well, some babies can take as long as 24 hours," Dr. Flagler reminded her. "Hopefully, your twins will come faster than that and I expect they will. How are the contractions?"

"Manageable. I have a high threshold for pain," Cristina said.

"Okay, but I think an epidural will help, as it progresses," Dr. Flagler said. "I will check you, later. The nurses will keep me apprised of everything that is going on. Goodbye, Cristina, Dr. Hunt." She left the room. Cristina gave Owen a forlorn look. "It looks like we are going to here for the long haul."

"Yeah, but that's okay. I have a comfy chair and I will keep you company," he said. He put on the television. "What do you want to watch?" Cristina looked at her watch. "Ooh, good timing. Put it on the station with that zombie show. I love when their arms fall off, while they're walking. Or they leave a piece of their jaw on the street. Fabulous." Owen scoffed but he still found the channel, anyway. She was in pain and if the zombies on television helped her, then so be it. They were going to watch it. When a second episode started, Cristina screamed in delight, "Oh, great. It is a marathon. I can watch this for hours." Now and then, he could hear her yelp with pain but the drugs certainly seemed to help, as did watching the survivors of the zombie apocalypse fight for survival. It helped take her mind off the pain. "Ooh, that's a good one. Right through that zombie's skull with that axe," she shrieked. She squealed whenever a zombie got killed, noting that it was just like a video game. Whatever works, Owen thought.

The doctor came back and checked Cristina, a couple more times. "We're getting there, Cristina. Now at 9 cm." Cristina seemed more interested in the action on the television. Even Owen was engrossed. He had never really watched this show but he found it extremely gripping. The doctor smiled at them before she left.

Meredith came by and found them, still watching television. She handed Owen the house keys. "April and I completed the project," she told him.

"Thank you so much," Owen said. He looked across at Cristina, "It won't be too long, again. She is already at 9 cm."

"What project?" Cristina asked. "You'll see soon enough," Owen replied.

Meredith went over and gave Cristina a hug. "So the zombies are keeping you occupied, Cristina," she said.

"Yup," she said. "It has taken my mind off the contractions. Will highly recommend it to anybody." Meredith found a chair to sit and joined the marathon.

The doctor came by an hour later and checked her, again. "Cristina, 10 cm. You are ready to push."

"What? But I won't know what happened when the zombies invade the ….," her voice trailed off, as Owen switched off the television. Meredith got up, "I will be outside, Cristina. They usually don't want too many unnecessary people in the room." She left the room, quickly.

"Okay, Cristina. You have been a remarkably uncomplaining patient. But now it is time to push," she said. Cristina sat up and started pushing. She hoped that these babies would come quickly. "You're doing really well; I can see the head of the first baby," Dr. Flagler said. "So push, Cristina." Cristina pushed with all of her might. Owen could tell how hard she was pushing by the grip she was exerting on his hand. For a small woman, she had a lot of strength in her, he realized.

"Okay, okay, the head is out," Dr. Flagler said. "Just one big push, now and we get the rest of the body out. " Cristina gave a mighty scream and pushed out the baby. As soon as he was out, the baby started screaming. "Great pair of lungs on this little guy," the doctor said, as she cut the umbilical cord and handed him over to one of the nurses. "He is a really good size, too. Must be about six and a half pounds." Owen was eager to see his son but he knew he had to stay with Cristina until she got the other baby out.

"Okay, second one, Cristina," Dr. Flagler. "Another big push." This baby was not coming as easy. In fact, it seemed like the contractions had slowed.

"Oh, dear, I think she might be breech," the doctor said. "Cristina, I have delivered breech babies, successfully before. But I have to ask if you want a C-section to get her out." Cristina thought quickly. She didn't want a C-section. That was a longer recovery time.

"Can you do it?" Cristina asked. She was scared that something would happen to the second baby. Owen was very anxious, too. He was sweating with worry.

"Yes," the doctor said. "I can do this. We will probably have to do an episiotomy." The next ten minutes were very tense, as the doctor delivered the second baby. As she came out of the birth canal, she was silent, unlike her very loud brother, who had made his presence known immediately. The baby's silence frightened Cristina. She screamed, "What's the matter? I can't see. Tell me, Owen." Owen watched as the doctors worked on the tiny, dark-haired baby girl.

"The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck," he said, softly.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thanks for taking the time to do so.**


	17. Chapter 17 The Next Step

Owen watched as the doctors unwrapped the cord from around the baby's neck. She let out a little cry. Owen thought that was the sweetest sounds he had ever heard. "There you go," Dr. Flagler said. "You're okay, baby girl." She handed her to the nurse, who got busy cleaning up the baby. First, the nurse brought across the baby boy, wrapped in his blue blanket.

"Hey there, buddy," Owen said, as they rested the baby on Cristina's chest. "He's beautiful, Cristina."

"Yes, he is," Cristina said, as she felt the baby's tiny fingers. It was so hard to imagine that literally less than half an hour ago, he was inside of her and now, he was a separate entity, a brand new human being.

"And here is our baby girl," the nurse said, resting the baby wrapped in the pink blanket on the other side of Cristina. Owen noted she had an abundance of dark hair, just like her mother.

"You gave me a little scare," Cristina told the baby girl. Owen stroked the baby's cheek. The nurse came back. "We need to get them checked out and then we will bring them to your room."

"Okay," Cristina said, as she reluctantly allowed the nurse to take the babies away. Owen kissed Cristina on the forehead, "You did a great job, Cristina. I am just going to tell the others about the babies." He left the room and was surprised not only Meredith and Derek there but all of their friends. "I didn't know all of you were waiting out here."

"Well, we haven't been here all of the time," Alex said. "We've been coming and going, depending on the progress. So what's the news?"

"Baby boy is fine. Baby girl had a little rougher start but she is doing okay," Owen said.

"Congratulations," Meredith said, giving Owen a kiss on the cheek. Everyone else followed suit by offering their congratulations.

"So what are their names?" April asked.

"Come to think of it, Cristina and I hadn't decided as yet. We both threw out a bunch of names and we were tossing them around to see how they sounded with Hunt as a last name. We thought we had a week again to decide. Now, that we are here, we better well make up our minds. We can't keep calling them baby boy and baby girl."

"So I guess we will see them, later," Jackson said.

"Yup, hopefully, by that time, the babies will have names," Owen said. Everyone left and returned to back to work.

* * *

Some time later, Owen and Cristina were awaiting the arrival of their babies in her room. The babies were all cleaned up and smelling great. The nurse handed Owen his baby boy, and gave Cristina the baby girl. They both marveled at how tiny everything was on the babies.

The nurse noted that the boy was exactly six pounds, eight ounces, while his sister was just around five pounds. She was smaller but she was healthy, the nurse said.

As the nurse left, Owen couldn't stop staring at the baby in his arms. "We did this, Cristina. Well, you more than me but we did this," he said.

"Yeah, I know we did it," she said, touching the baby girl on her face.

"We need to give them names," Owen said. "So what do you think? I mean we had a whole list of names and of those names, I have always liked the name Jonathan."

"I like Jonathan but I also like Hayden. What about Jonathan Hayden Hunt?" she said. She repeated the name several times. "Actually, that sounds good." Owen agreed. "Hey, Jonathan," he said to the baby boy.

"What about the girls' names? I liked Eva," she said. "That's pretty," he replied. "What about Gabriella?'

"Eva Gabriella Hunt," Cristina said. "Ooh, that sounds lovely. She is going to be a movie star with that name."

"So it is settled. Our babies have names," he said. "No more baby boy Hunt and baby girl Hunt." He danced around the room with the baby in his arms.

* * *

After two days, they were released from the hospital. Cristina had been taught how to breast-feed the babies and they had both taken to it like suckling champs. She was relieved but it was a lot of work to feed them because they were always hungry. The nurse showed her how to use the breast pump, so Owen could bottle-feed them and the burden would not be all on her.

When they took their babies home, Cristina realized they had not set up the nursery for the twins. "Where will they sleep?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," he said. "Remember that project Meredith was talking about. She and April with a little help from the guys put up the nursery for us, the day we went to the hospital to have the babies."

"So they knew what to do?" Cristina asked, still a little wary about whether their friends had done it right.

"Yes, I gave them a drawing of what we wanted and I wrote copious notes. I have already seen it. They did a fantastic job," he said. He pulled up in front of their house and led her into the house. She was still a bit sore. He took out Jonathan and carried him into the house, placing him in Cristina's arms. Then, he went back for Eva and carried her in.

"Okay, then, are we ready?" he asked. She nodded. They walked up the stairs to the bedroom they had designated to be the babies' nursery. Owen opened the door with a huge grin on his face. "Ta-da!" he yelled. Cristina stepped inside and burst into tears. Owen was very alarmed. "Oh my God, you don't like it. We can fix it."

"No, no," she said. "It's beautiful. " The bedroom was awash in shades of blue and pink with white as an accent color. The mural - a forest scene with baby animals, birds and butterflies - decorated one wall.

"Who painted that?" she asked. "It's great."

"Yeah, it is. I made arrangements with Mr. Coulter to allow an artist to come in last week to paint the mural. So it was here before we moved in," he said.

"It is lovely. Owen, thank you so much. You know that I am not good at these things," she said. "I have to call Meredith and April to thank them, too." They each placed their sleeping babies into their individual cribs, which were on either side of the room.

"I still can't believe they are here," Owen said. "It's like I have to pinch myself to make sure that I am not dreaming. Eighteen months ago, I would have never even thought that it was possible."

"Imagine if my first insemination had worked," Cristina said. "We probably would not be here."

"Yeah, I shudder to think about it," he said. "I never told you this but when you told me that you got inseminated, my heart sunk to the ground. I know it was wrong because you wanted it to work. But I didn't want it to work because I wanted to be the father of your baby." She went over to him and hugged him. "I'm glad that you are the father of my babies."

"Me, too. I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life," he said. "That's why I want to do this." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a small box. He opened it and showed her the diamond engagement ring. "I was thinking that maybe, we could get married again."

She pulled away from a bit and stared at the ring. "I don't think so," she said. She could see the hurt and disappointment in his eyes.

"Things are fine the way they are, right now," she said. "Just you, me and the kids."

"It's because they are fine that I thought we could take the next step, again," he said. "We're going to be together, forever, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but we don't need a piece of paper to tell us that, Owen. We have been down this road before and we both know that it didn't end well," she said. "All that pain and hurt that we caused each other. I don't want to do that, again."

"But things are different, now," he reminded her. "We are older. We seem to want the same things, now. Kids and a life together. We already have the kids and we do want the life together. What's wrong with formalizing it all?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, Owen, but I am not sure it is going to work for us," she said. "I think things are just perfect the way it is."

"Okay," he said. "I am not going to push you." He left the nursery and went to their bedroom and put the ring back in the drawer of the bedside table near to his side of the bed. Owen was quiet for the rest of the night. He helped to change the babies' diapers and fed them, too. Two babies were a lot of work, they both realized.

"All they do is sleep, cry and poop all day long," Cristina said, laughing. Owen did not join in the laughter. He simply answered, "Yes." He sang a lullaby to the baby girl he was holding in his arms. Cristina watched him with such love in her heart. Here was this big, great hunk of a man, holding this tiny baby in his arms and singing to her. She really loved him so much.

That night, as they lay in bed, everything was so quiet. There was silence on the baby monitors, indicating that both babies were asleep. Owen's back was turned away from her. She could hear his easy breathing so she assumed that he was probably already asleep. She turned towards him and spooned him, wrapping her arm around his chest. It was when he took her hand and kissed it that she knew that even though he was upset, he would always love her.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, the Yang-Hunt front door was a revolving door, as numerous people came over to visit and to help. All of their friends, Owen's mom and even Dr. Webber, even though he was retired, pitched in to help with the twins. Cristina's mom and step-dad came in for two days to visit. Cristina was grateful that her parents stayed in a hotel. She couldn't take it if her parents had to stay under the same roof as she did. She endured her mother's criticism about how she was taking care of the babies, without retaliating and uttering something really harsh. If she could, she would have patted herself on the back about how well she handled her parents' visit. She was grateful that they stayed only two days in Seattle. Owen's mom, Rosa, on the other hand, was a total sweetheart. She was just happy to be in the presence of her grandchildren. She had never thought that she would get any grandchildren. Yes, she knew that Owen had almost married Vanessa, who had three children. While the children were lovely and pleasant, they were already practically grown-up and they were not her grandchildren.

Rosa marveled at the beauty of her grandchildren – the boy that looked so much like her own boy when he was a baby, and the girl who was her mama's imprint. Interestingly, it seemed the boy was boisterous like his mother while the little girl was quiet and calm like her father. She never pointed this out to the proud parents but it did give her an inward giggle.

She and Cristina were sitting on rocking chairs on the back porch with each of them holding a baby in their arms. Rosa kissed her granddaughter on the forehead. "I just love you and your brother so much," she said.

She looked across at Cristina. "Thank you so much, Cristina," she said.

"For what?" Cristina asked, puzzled.

"For giving me these beautiful grand babies," she said. "I never thought that I would ever have them. I also thank you for making my son so happy."

"Aw, it is a two-way street. He makes my life that much better," Cristina admitted. "I can't imagine life without him, anymore."

"I know you all had a lot of problems in the past. Those were dark times," Rosa said. "But it seems that you all have gone past them."

"We have," Cristina said with a smile.

"So do you have plans to remarry?" Rosa asked, hopefully. "I mean you do have these two little ones, here. They need stability in their lives."

"Um, we have discussed it but I don't think I'm ready," Cristina said. She knew that Owen was ready and that she was the stumbling block.

"Oh. Owen will always put you and the babies, first. Just know that," Rosa said, stroking the tiny baby's chin.

"Yes," Cristina said, softly. "I know that. He is a good man. Better than most."

* * *

**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thank you for taking the time to do so.**


	18. Chapter 18 What Alex said

The babies were now six months old and doing well. Cristina had returned to work and the babies spent most of their day in the day care center at the hospital. It was difficult to get alone time with Owen but whenever she and Owen wanted to go out on a date night, there was one friend who was willing to babysit and that was Alex. Alex had been the one who had complained the most, when Meredith had suggested that they all help. Yet, he was the first to volunteer whenever they needed a babysitter. Maybe it was because Alex was not dating anyone at the moment. Maybe it was because he was so good with the babies, who loved their Uncle Alex. They both were very happy babies, whenever he was around.

Cristina was aware of Alex's long history of dating women, who broke his heart. Izzie had been the woman that Alex had loved the most but he had sent her away and they got divorced. After Izzie, there had been Lucy who stabbed him in the back and took away his African job. There were many casual encounters with many different women, after that. Meredith had said that in the years that Cristina was away, Alex had got himself involved with an intern named Jo. They were together for a while, until Jo's immaturity had reared its head and doomed their relationship. Since then, he had been single, with a few brief relationships here and there but nothing that was too permanent. Everyone seemed to have a significant other, except Alex. That was sad, Cristina thought.

One Saturday afternoon, when Owen was at work and Cristina was at home, alone, she was surprised by a visitor. It was Alex.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Cristina asked.

"Oh, I saw Hunt at the hospital. He told me you were home alone with the twins and I thought I would give you a hand. I know they can be a lot of work," he said.

"Your help is most appreciated. I was just about to give them their bottles," Cristina said, as she placed baby Jonathan in his arms. The baby gurgled and touched Alex on his face.

"Hey there, buddy," Alex said, as he took a bottle from Cristina. "Do you want to go out on the back patio to feed them?"

"Sure," Cristina said. They both liked feeding the babies on the back patio. They could watch the all of the squirrels scurrying around the backyard and listen to the birds in the trees. It was very quiet, except for the sound of the babies drinking their milk.

"You know Yang, you got it good," Alex said. "You have a man who is crazy about you, two beautiful babies, this great house, an awesome job. You've done well."

"Thank you, Alex. It means a lot coming from you," Cristina said.

"So why don't you get married, again?" he said. "Your life is pretty stable, now. You're not going to disappear on the other side of the country. You're obviously in it for the long haul. So, why not get re-married?"

"Not you, too," Cristina said with a sigh. "Owen wants to get married. His mom thinks we should get married. Even Meredith said that we should get remarried. It's like I am getting from all sides."

"Well, I just think that since everything is going so well, that maybe you should reconsider getting hitched, again?" Alex said, as he put the baby on his shoulder to burp him. "Remember I was witness to Hunt over the years. He was so miserable when you left. Then, he got engaged to that real estate agent. Everyone was a little shocked because we just knew he was still carrying a torch for you. So, when we heard that you two had hooked up again, we had never seen him happier. His whole façade changed. He was smiling more and always in a good mood."

"Well, you know we did have our problems in our marriage," Cristina said. "We hurt each other so badly. I keep thinking that if we are doing so well, now without marriage, why change it? Why fix it, when it ain't broke?"

Alex shook his head. "I envy you, Cristina. You got a second chance at happiness. I don't know why you just don't grab it by the horns and run with it. You've totally got it made, now," He sighed.

"Alex, don't give up," she said. "You will find someone."

"Cristina, what if I already met that someone and I just let them go?" he said, softly.

"Are you talking about Izzie?" she asked. She knew that Izzie was the one person, who had softened Alex's heart.

"Yeah, Izzie. I have been thinking about her, a lot," he said. "Mainly because she called me." He watched Cristina's face to gauge her reaction.

"Izzie called you?" Cristina said, in an incredulous tone. "Where is she?"

"She is at Portland Memorial," Alex said. "She's doing fine. She is an ob/gyn there. She also had an amazing piece of news."

"Okay, now you have me really curious," Cristina said. "You are killing me here, Karev. What news did she have?"

"Do you remember when Izzie had cancer and we harvested her eggs and I fertilized them?" he said. His voice was a little shaky as he said it.

"Are you saying what I think you are saying?" Cristina shrieked. "She used them. She's pregnant?"

"Well, more than that," Alex said. "She had a kid two years ago and she has another one on the way. It looks like I am the father of her two kids."

"Oh, my God!" Cristina screamed. "I don't how to feel about that. But more importantly, how do you feel?"

"Well, I am a peds surgeon. I love kids," Alex said. "When she called, I was in a state of shock. I had just come out of some complicated surgery and then the nurse tells me, there is a call for me. I nearly fell down when I heard Izzie's voice. Then she tells me that she has something important to tell me. She said she had been wrong to keep this from me. Then she told me about the first kid and then that she was pregnant with the second kid."

"Wow, wow, wow," Cristina said. "So what do you have? I mean, the kids."

"My daughter is two years old. Her name is Alexis and the new baby is going to be a boy, Izzie says," Alex said. "I don't know what to think, right now. Being with your kids over the past six months has made me realize how much I want my own. And then I find out that I already do."

"So she named her daughter after you. That is so freaking amazing. So what are you going to do?" Cristina said. "Are you going to see them? What about Izzie?"

"Well, she told me that she wouldn't mind if I have a relationship with the children," Alex said. "She thinks that children need their dad. I think I want to see Alexis and the baby boy, when he comes. As for Izzie, I don't know if too much water has passed under the bridge for us. I mean Izzie has always owned a piece of my heart but I just don't know."

"So you're going to call her and tell her that you want to see them, right?" Cristina said. "Yeah," Alex said. "As soon as I leave here and go back to my house."

"Maybe it is not too late, Alex. Look it wasn't too late for Owen and me. Maybe it will be the same for you and Izzie," Cristina said, encouragingly.

Alex looked a little unsure. He stared at the sleeping baby in his arms. "I guess I will put this little one in his crib." Cristina followed Alex to the nursery, as they placed the babies in their respective cribs.

"I will see you, Cristina," Alex said. "Thanks for the talk. I will show myself out."

"Okay," she said. "Good luck." As Alex left, she sat on the rocking chair in the nursery. Alex had given a lot to think about, especially about her and Owen moving forward with their lives. She had been given a second chance of happiness. Alex was right about that. Maybe he was also right about taking that next step, once again.

She leaned back in the chair and soon fell asleep, even as the thoughts rolled around in her mind. When Owen came home, he found the house strangely quiet. He thought maybe, she had gone out with the babies, but he knew she wouldn't do that, since taking out the babies was a two-man task. He figured she would be in the nursery with the babies. He smiled as he found her sleeping on the rocking chair. It was easy to fall asleep on that chair, he knew, since he had done it many times before. He gently woke her up.

"Hey, I brought some dinner," he said. He helped her up and they went down to the kitchen. He gave her a plate and started ladling out from the many Chinese takeaway boxes that he had brought. "So how was your evening?" he asked.

"Oh, Alex came by," she said. "He helped me feed the babies and he had some really interesting news."

"Oh? What?" Owen asked, curiously. He broke apart his chopsticks and started eating.

"You remember Izzie, Alex's ex-wife?" Cristina said.

"Yup, she left when you guys were in the third year of your residency," Owen said.

"Well, she didn't exactly leave on her own volition. She did get fired after the Seattle Grace Mercy West merger. Anyway, they got divorced after that," Cristina said. "Well, she called Alex, recently to tell him that he is a father. She already has one kid and is pregnant with another."

"Wait, wait, hold up here. How is that possible? I assume they haven't seen each other in a number of years," Owen said, puzzled.

"Oh, before she started undergoing treatment for her cancer, they harvested her eggs and Alex fertilized them," Cristina explained.

"Oh, I didn't know any of that went on," Owen said. "Well, so I guess she used the embryos and got pregnant. So he's a dad. That must have come quite as a shock. So what is he going to do?"

"Well, he wants to get to know his kids and maybe, he was thinking that he and Izzie could have a second chance, just like we did," she said. He leaned over and kissed her. "Your mouth tastes like kung pao chicken," she told him. He grinned and went back to eating his dinner.

"I think Alex needs somebody. If they work out, I would be quite happy for him," she declared. "Alex is a good guy, under that rough exterior."

"Yeah, me too. Everyone needs somebody," Owen said. She stared at him, as he ate. "You're a good guy, too," she said.

"Thank you," he said, with a smile.

* * *

She toyed with the idea for a couple of weeks, until she finally made up her mind. It was the right thing to do. With her plan in mind, she got Meredith to take the twins for the night. Meredith said Zola would be ecstatic that the twins would be coming over. She got April to help her with the decorations. They put candles and fairy lights in the living room to give it a magical, ethereal feel. Owen was the one who loved romance, so she needed to make it romantic. She thanked April, who had to go back to the hospital.

She got Owen's favorite restaurant to cater a meal and it was already on the table. She wore a dress that Owen particularly loved on her. She looked around – everything looked perfect. Tonight was the night. All she needed was for him to get there. Tonight was the night she was going to ask him to marry her.

So, she waited and waited. She kept looking at the clock. He was never this late. Maybe, he was stuck in traffic or was called into surgery. She called his phone. It kept ringing and ringing. That was odd. If he was in surgery, a nurse would have answered it. She was going to call April to find out whether Owen was still there at the hospital. But then her phone rang. It was April.

"Hey, April, I was just about to call you. Have you seen Owen?" she asked. She heard April sigh.

"Cristina, I have some bad news," April started. Cristina's heart started to sink. "What happened?" she said, softly.

"Owen has been in an accident. He was on his way home when his vehicle was struck in an intersection," April said. "The paramedics brought him to the hospital. He's going to be in surgery."

"Oh, no!" Cristina screamed, as she fell to the floor and started to cry.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. Thanks for the feedback. I do appreciate it very much.**


	19. Chapter 19 Recovery

Cristina rushed down to the emergency room. She was glad that Meredith had the twins for the night. She called Meredith and told her what had happened. Meredith told her not to worry about it and just take care of Owen.

By the time she got there, she saw Rosa there with a nurse. "Cristina, honey," Rosa called out and ran to hug her. "This is so dreadful. When I heard the news, I couldn't stop crying. They told me to come as soon as possible because I had to handle all of the paperwork for his care."

Cristina realized that even though she and Owen lived together and had two children together, it was his mother who was his next of kin. She and Owen were not married or in a state-registered domestic partnership. Legally, she wasn't anything to Owen. If there were medical decisions to be made, it was going to be up to his mother.

"It's okay, Rosa," Cristina said. "He has the best care, here. They told me that he has gone into surgery."

"Yes, someone came out and told me that it was going well, so far," Rosa said. "They told me he had a number of internal injuries and a broken leg and arm but it was going well."

"That's good," Cristina said. "Let's go in the waiting room." She led Mrs. Hunt to the waiting room. "Wait a minute," Rosa said. "Where are the babies?"

"Oh, they are at a friend's house. She has two children, who love the babies, so they are fine," Cristina said.

"What about in the morning?" Rosa asked. She was worried about the twins since she and Cristina would both be concerned about Owen's care.

"Well, Meredith will probably bring them in with her and put them in daycare and take them back home with her, tomorrow, if Owen is still out of it. If he is okay, I will take them home with me," Cristina said. "So don't worry about them. They're in good hands."

"Good," Rosa said. Her grandchildren were usually her top priority but Owen had taken precedence because of his accident.

"Do you want some coffee?" Cristina asked. She found herself feeling hungry. She hadn't eaten any of the lovely dinner that the restaurant had prepared for her and Owen. She had put that in the fridge. She had blown out all of the candles and turned off the decorative lights, before she left the house. Rosa nodded, "Yes, thank you, Cristina."

Cristina got two coffees and an energy bar from the vending machine. She handed one of the coffees to her former mother in law. "It's not the greatest coffee in the world," Cristina said. "But it will suffice for the moment." Rosa took a sip. "It's okay, Cristina. Just glad for the warmth in my body."

They both sat there and waited. They both fell asleep at some point. "Cristina, wake up," April said, shaking her friend awake. Cristina's eyes fluttered open. "Oh, God, April, how long have I been asleep?"

"Probably a couple of hours," April said. "He is just out of surgery and it looks really, really good. He did code once, while he was on the table but that was about the only thing. It looks like he is going to make it."

"Oh, thank God, April," she said. She gently shook Rosa awake.

"Rosa, wake up," Cristina said. Rosa opened her eyes. She looked a little bit disoriented before she realized where she was.

"Cristina, what's happening? Is he alright?" Rosa asked, anxiously.

"Yes, he came through the surgery, well," Cristina said. "This is my friend Dr April Kepner. She worked on Owen." Cristina felt it wise not to tell Rosa that Owen had coded on the table and that they had brought him back.

"Hello, Dr Kepner," Rosa said. "My boy is going to be okay?"

"Looks that way, Mrs. Hunt," April said. "Dr. Hunt is a very strong man. He is going to make a full recovery."

"Oh, thank God," Rosa said. She burst into tears. Cristina put her arm around Rosa. "These are just tears of joy and relief, Cristina."

"I know, Rosa," Cristina said, wiping away her own tears. "April, when can we see him?"

"Well he is in Recovery now. As soon as they put him into his room, I will let you know," April said with a big grin. She was happy that she had played a part in Owen's recovery.

* * *

Later, Rosa and Cristina found themselves in Owen's room. He was still asleep, so they took the time to catch up on their sleep. Cristina slept on a couch, while Rosa slept in an armchair. Owen opened his eyes. He still felt groggy. "Cristina," he said in a hoarse voice.

Rosa woke up to the sound of her son's voice. "Owen, it's me," she said, stroking her son's face.

"Mom," he said. "Accident."

"I know, son, but you went through surgery like a champ," Rosa said, the tears streaming down her face.

"Cristina?" he asked, once again.

"She's here; she's asleep on the couch," Rosa said. She called out to her son's girlfriend. "Cristina!" Cristina gave herself a shake, as she woke up. "I'm up, I'm up!" she said. Owen couldn't help but laugh. It hurt but she could always make him laugh. She ran to him, "Owen!" She kissed him all over his face. He grinned at her. Cristina always made him feel better, whenever he saw her.

"Sorry," he said. "I ruined your plans. I know you wanted me to come home early." Cristina had planned something special at home but he didn't know why.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about. That guy in that other truck broke the red light and hit your truck. He's the one who should be sorry. He got away with a few minor bruises. Wait till I get my hands on him," she said. She balled her fists in front of Owen. He laughed, again even though it hurt. The thought of tiny Cristina taking down the other driver was too hilarious an image. He coughed. "Don't laugh, Owen," Cristina said. She allowed him to calm down before she spoke again. "By the way, if you are wondering, the babies are fine. They are in day care. They stayed with Meredith, last night."

"You two look like you have been here all night," Owen said.

"Yes, we have," Rosa said.

"Go home, get changed and come back, later," he said. "Both of you look like you need to freshen up."

"Are you dissing us, Owen Hunt?" Cristina said with a laugh. "Okay, I know we both look like frumps right now. So I will go home. I will check you a little later." She gave him a light kiss on the lips. As they both left, she turned around to say, "I am beyond happy that you are okay. If you had died, I don't know how I would have coped."

"I am happy I am okay, too. Don't worry, I will always fight my darndest to stay with you and the kids," he said. Cristina looked at him with so much love.

* * *

Two weeks later, Owen had recovered enough to go home. There was still more recovery time but it was felt he could do that at home. Owen was glad to go home. He still had casts around his broken leg and arm and Cristina helped him into the house. He was going to stay in the guest bedroom downstairs while he recovered. In his state, there was no way he was going to go up and down the stairs. As they passed their open plan living/dining room, he noticed that there were little lights strung up all over and pillar candles everywhere. He wondered if this had been part of Cristina's surprise. He could imagine how pretty the place had looked when the lights were on and the candles were lit. She had planned a lovely, romantic evening and he had to go and ruin it by getting in an accident. He sighed. "What are you sighing about?" Cristina asked.

"It's just that I got into this bloody accident," he said, as they got to the guest room. She helped him get to the bed.

"So Nurse Stefanie is coming in tomorrow to stay with you," Cristina said "Don't you give her trouble. Everyone says that you are a terrible patient."

"It's just that I am so restless. I can't lie on the bed all day," he said.

"Well, until your leg heals, you will be hopping around. You can use your crutches, though with the broken arm, that might be a little bit dicey. Just rest, Owen. You will recover, faster," she said, with a little bit of exasperation in her voice.

"I am sorry," he said. "I ruined everything. I saw the lights and the candles in the living room. You were planning a romantic night for the two of us."

"Oh, I haven't had time to take those things down," she said. "Between you, the babies and work, it has been quite exhausting. I will take them down, soon. Now that you are home, it will make things a lot easier. Plus I have Nurse Stefanie to help me."

"No, don't take them down. I want to see it, all lit up," he said. "You went to so much trouble. I want to see it."

"Okay, when you're a little more mobile, I will do it. That's not all you missed. I had food catered from your favorite restaurant," she said.

"Darn it, I missed that, too. So what did you do with all of the food?" he asked.

"It took me about a week but I consumed all of it, bit by bit. It was delicious," she said.

"Hmmm," he said. "I can't believe I missed all of that."

"And that wasn't all," she said. "I was going to give you some of the best sex of your life." She knew she was teasing him.

"Oh, good grief. Now, you're really killing me here, Cristina," he said. "You're telling me this, while I am practically immobile, is just plain cruel. I am grieving here."

"Okay, so why don't you get some rest?" she said. "Here is a bell, so you won't have to shout my name." As she left the room, she knew she hadn't told him about the most important part of the night; about why she had gone to all of that trouble. She needed to find a better time to make her proposal. After the accident, she had realized how important it was that they get married since it turned out that Rosa was Owen's next of kin and she was not. They couldn't decide for each other in a case of an emergency.

* * *

Owen's recovery was not easy. He was so restless. He worked tirelessly on his computer, thinking up ways to get the hospital's surgical departments working more efficiently. He watched a lot of television and wondered why there was so many reality shows. He read, too but a lot of the time, he just did a lot of thinking. He thought a lot about the night that Cristina had gone to all of that trouble to decorate the living room and to order from his favorite restaurant. It wasn't just going to be a romantic night. She was going to propose. There was no way that Cristina would have gone to all of that trouble, if she hadn't been planning that. He was ecstatic. She had finally come around. She wanted to get married, again.

The day his casts came off, he was the happiest man in the world. Those things itched a lot. He was glad that he now had full use of his arm and his leg. He picked up the babies from day care and took them to his mother's house. He went home that day, with a plan in mind.

Cristina came home, later that night. She had brought home a pizza. They were going to celebrate his full recovery. When she got home, she was surprised to see that the tiny, decorative lights were on and all of the candles were lit. Her husband was dressed in a tuxedo and there was soft music playing in the background.

"Oh, my God, I knew we were going to celebrate getting your cast off but not all of this," she said. "I just brought home a pizza."

"You can put the pizza in the fridge. We can have that tomorrow," he said. "I already have dinner. It's from your favorite restaurant. Plus the babies have gone across to my mother's."

"Really? I better go get changed into something nicer," she said.

"Okay, do that," he said. She ran to their bedroom and took a quick bath, pulled on a little black dress and a string of pearls and nude heels. She brushed out her curly locks and made up her face, finishing it off with sexy red lips.

He grinned when he saw her. "You look gorgeous," he said.

"Thank you," she said, as she watched him light the candles on the table. He led her to the table, where they dined on a sumptuous meal, accompanied by white wine.

"Okay, now for dessert," he said. He went into the kitchen and brought her a rich slice of cheesecake with a cherry at the top. Wrapped around the cherry was her engagement ring.

"You knew!" she shrieked.

"Yes, why else would you go to all that trouble to make it so lovely and romantic for me? You are not the romantic type. I am. And you did it for me. There could be no other reason why. You were going to ask me to marry you," he said, triumphantly.

"Yes," she said. "I was."

"Well, do it," he said. "I want to hear the words from your mouth. Ask me."

"Owen Hunt, would you do me the honor of becoming my husband, once again? I promise to do better this time," she said, solemnly.

"Sweeter words have never come out of your mouth," he said. "Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes." He grabbed her and kissed her for a long time. He then removed the engagement ring from around the cherry, wiped it and then, slipped it on to her ring finger. They both admired how the ring sparkled in the candlelight.

"So we're going to get married, again," she said. "Yes, we are," he said. "It's going to be forever, this time."

"Forever," she repeated. Then, they kissed again.

* * *

**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I appreciate when you take the time to do so. The next chapter will be the final chapter. Happy Valentine's Day!**


	20. Chapter 20 The Wedding

**A/N: Final chapter.**

* * *

Cristina went into the twins' room. "Hey there, babies," she said. The one-year-old twins were both standing up and looking at her. Jonathan put up his arms for her to pick him up. She picked him up and kissed him on top of his blonde head. She then went to his sister, Eva, with the curly dark hair and picked her up.

"My, you two are getting so big," she said. She placed them on the floor, next to each other. Jonathan was half a head taller than his tiny sister. He was always the bigger baby. Since he took after his dad in size, he was probably going to leave his sister behind in the height department in years to come.

"Today is a special day. Your mom and dad are getting married, today," Cristina told them. "So I won't have much time for you, today." Cristina always spoke to the babies like if they were her equals. She didn't much indulge in baby talk. The twins solemnly looked at her.

"Grandma Rosa is taking care of you, while I get ready," she said. She was grateful that she wasn't going to go to some venue to get married. They were getting married in a garden wedding in their beautiful backyard. The backyard had already been transformed through the hard work of a wedding planner and her crew. While Cristina had planned her first wedding to Owen, this time, she let a wedding planner handle all of the hard stuff. With the babies and her job as head of cardio, she just didn't have much time for the planning but she provided supervision and approval for everything that the wedding planner had done. Owen helped, too, providing ideas about what he liked. Cristina realized he had some great ideas – some of them on the very romantic side. What a guy, she thought.

The most input she had was on her dress. She had worn a red dress the last time for her evening wedding at Meredith's house but his time, it was a morning wedding. She had loved that red dress with the deep V to the front and back. In fact, she still had that dress. But that was when she was a fourth year resident and 31 years old. She was now 40 and maybe she wanted to be a little more modest. She had chosen a pale yellow wedding gown, suitable for the time of day and to celebrate the warm spring weather. She loved that yellow dress. Its sunshiny color made her feel fresh and anew. Owen was going to wear a dark gold tie to complement her dress.

There was a knock on the door and Owen's mom poked her head in.

"Hello, Cristina," Rosa said. "How are my beautiful grandbabies today?" The babies on hearing their grandma's voice, walked a little unsteadily towards her. She picked them both up and rested some soft kisses on their cheeks.

"Thanks for doing this, Rosa," Cristina said. "I hope it wouldn't bother you when it is time to get ready."

"I am an old lady. Doesn't take me long to get dressed. My dress is already in the guest bedroom. I will just slip that on, slap on some make up and my grandbabies and I will be ready for the wedding. Where are their clothes?" Cristina handed to Rosa the babies' clothes.

"Oh, my how cute," Rosa said, examining Jonathan's tiny tux and Eva's yellow dress. "They will look so wonderful in this."

"I know the babies are a handful, but you can get some help from my parents," Cristina said. Saul and Helen Rubenstein were going to be present at this wedding, a sharp contrast from her first wedding, when neither of them was there. Her mother had been furious about not being told about that wedding but Cristina had said it was only a tiny, informal wedding and there were very few guests. She smiled to herself when she realized that all of the people who were at the first wedding, were also going to attend the second wedding. Except for Mark and Lexie, of course. They weren't going to be there. They had died in the plane crash that had fractured her life, so many years ago. She always imagined that McSteamy and Lexipedia had found each other in the afterlife and were together, forever as soulmates. She really wasn't the romantic type but that was the image she had always envisioned for her friends/colleagues. Other than them, it was going to be déjà vu.

There were a couple more people who weren't at the first wedding, who would attend the second wedding. They included Jackson's mom, Catherine Avery, who was now married to Richard Webber. Also, Shane Ross, now a cardio attending was going to be there, along with his wife, Heather Brooks. And there was Izzie. Alex was bringing Izzie and their two children to the wedding. Alex had indeed contacted Izzie, initially to get to know his daughter, Alexis. The sparks were there from the moment they met again, even though they both tried to fight it. Every time he had a day off, he often found himself in Portland, ostensibly to see Alexis but since Izzie was always there, he saw her, too. Slowly, they were becoming a family. Alex was there, holding her hand, when Izzie had their son, Ryan. He even cut the umbilical cord. Alex and Izzie were well on their way back to being a family by that time.

She had also transferred to Seattle Presbyterian, so the whole family could be together. She and the kids had moved into Alex's house and they had gotten engaged. There was going to be another wedding in the Seattle Grace Mercy West family sometime later on in the year. She was happy she was for Alex that he had finally been reunited with the love of his life, just as she did. Everyone needs somebody, Owen had said and he was right.

As she got dressed for her wedding, she thought about how glad she was that her somebody was Owen. She had a make-up artist and a hair stylist, working on her. She didn't have a bridesmaid. She felt she was too old for that. She and Owen were going to do exactly what they did, the first time they got married. They were going to walk hand in hand down the aisle, together. After all, neither of them was spring chickens, since Owen was already 47 years old.

There was a knock on the door. It was Meredith. "Hey, Cristina, how are things going?" she asked.

"Fine, just finished with the warpaint," Cristina said. Her make-up artist looked horrified, when she said that. "Oh, Jacinta, don't worry, you've made me beautiful. You've done a wonderful job." Jacinta breathed a sigh of relief.

"You look gorgeous," Meredith said. "I have just come up to help you put on your dress." Cristina gave her friend a sweet smile.

"How is everyone doing in the garden? Are they getting restless?" Cristina asked.

"No, everyone is doing well. I saw your parents. I saw Izzie and Alex. They look very happy," Meredith said. "I saw your husband to be. He looks very handsome and a touch nervous."

"Why is he nervous?" Cristina asked. "We've been down this road before."

"Well, it's good that he has a touch of nerves," Meredith said, holding the dress for Cristina to step inside it. "It means he really cares."

"Yeah, he does," Cristina said, thinking about her children's father. Meredith zipped up the dress from behind. The yellow dress had a fitted strapless top and flared out at the bottom in a full skirt. "Wow, that dress fits you so well," Meredith said.

"I had three fittings so it better fit me well," Cristina said. "What's the time?"

"I think you have five minutes before it starts," Meredith said. There was a knock on the door. It was the wedding planner, Ruth. "Owen is ready, Cristina. So let's get you down there." Meredith and Ruth left, quickly and then, Cristina came down by herself.

Owen was waiting at the bottom of the stairs for his bride. His breath was taken away by the vision before him. God, he loved this woman.

"You look beautiful," he said, very appreciatively. He was wearing a black suit with a dark gold tie. "You look very handsome, Owen. That is a very attractive tie," she teased.

"Why, thank you. Always great to get a compliment from my fiancée," he said. He offered her his hand. They walked out to the backyard together and stood at the bottom of the aisle as the string quartet started playing. As they reached at the top, Cristina acknowledged her mom and step dad and noted that Helen had Jonathan in her arms. On the other side of the aisle was Rosa with Eva in her lap. Eva said, "Mama, Dada" and clapped her little hands. Jonathan, on the other hand, was too busy examining a toy that his Grandma Helen had given him.

"Our babies," Owen whispered. "I can never thank you enough for them."

"I wonder how much you will thank me when they are rebellious teenagers," she chuckled.

"I take the good with the bad," he said. "And with them, there's a whole lot more good than the bad," he said. "Besides, I have you with me for the rest of my life so we can deal with those terrible teenage years." He kissed her hand.

As they reached the top of the aisle, the judge nodded at them and asked softly, "Are we ready?" They both nodded. They were both so ready to get married, once again. As they exchanged their vows, they could not stop smiling at each other. Then, they exchanged rings. They had bought new rings – they were going to start afresh. Then, Owen needn't be told twice to kiss his bride as he pulled her into his arms and dipped her, as they kissed. There was whooping and hollering at his bold move. Cristina certainly did not expect that. She was a little flushed, when she became upright, again.

"Well, okay then," the judge said. "I am pleased to introduced Doctors Owen and Cristina Yang Hunt." The applause was true and thunderous, as they made their way to the large, luxurious tent where the reception was being held. The formal part of the reception was short, since they didn't really have a wedding entourage. It was just Owen, making a toast to his bride, saying that he was the luckiest person in the world and how much he loved his wife and his children. He said he was the happiest he had ever been in his entire life because he was getting to share the rest of his life with the woman he loved. There was not a dry eye in the house, as he spoke. Cristina was so overwhelmed that she found herself dabbing the tears away.

When they took to the floor for their first dance together as husband and wife, Owen whispered, "Have I told you how beautiful you look, Mrs. Hunt?"

"About possibly the fifth time," she said. "But you can keep it coming. I will always accept the compliment, especially since it is coming from you. A woman will always love when her husband thinks she is beautiful."

"I was just thinking about the first time I saw you," Owen said. "You didn't want to take care of my injuries from the accident. Webber had to practically order you to do it. You were itching to go into surgery with him."

"Well, yeah, I was a second year resident and my cardio attending was shutting me out of surgeries. So I needed to get into surgery by any means necessary," she said. "But then you impressed me by stapling your leg without getting numbed. Man, I thought you were a badass."

"Well, that would have been the end of me, if that icicle hadn't impaled you," Owen said, with a chuckle.

"Yep, you not only saved me, you took care of me, too. Then, you had the audacity to kiss me before you left," she said.

"Hey, hey, you kissed back," he said. "And I think you liked it."

"I stopped you. But it is true, I did kiss back and I did like it," she admitted. "I sometimes wonder what would have happened if I hadn't stopped you."

"Me, too," he said. "Clearly, we made a great first impression with each other because here we are."

"Yeah, here we are," she said. She looked across at her babies, who were contentedly sitting on their grandmas' laps. She had never imagined her life would be like this. She had always thought that she would be the dedicated, hard core cardio surgeon. But she had found a man, who had taught her there could be more to life than surgery. They were now living their huge life, together.

_**THE END**_

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**A/N Please leave your thoughts and comments. I hope you enjoyed this semi-canon/semi-AU story. I really would like your final thoughts about this story. I would appreciate them.**


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